


Kiss Kiss fight for love

by BubbleFox60



Category: Ouran High School Host Club - All Media Types
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Fluff, Honey-Sempai being a ball of fluff, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Kouru and Hikaru being dumbasses, Kyouya is a mom making a difference, Mori-Sempai being protective, No stuffed bunnies were hurt in the making of this (Usa-chan), Some angst, Tamaki being a father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 50,289
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28841739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbleFox60/pseuds/BubbleFox60
Summary: When Hikaru and Kouru accidentally break a pipe and cause Haruhi's apartment to flood she ends up staying with Honey Sempai and Mori-Sempai. The whole club begins to fight for Haruhi's affection after one little incident. All except one certain quiet third year student.Who will win Haruhi's affection?
Relationships: Fujioka Haruhi/Hitachiin Hikaru, Fujioka Haruhi/Morinozuka Takashi, Fujioka Haruhi/Ootori Kyouya
Comments: 99
Kudos: 110





	1. Deals made

"Guys I told you, knock it off!"

"Win the game first, then we MIGHT" 

Haruhi rolled her eyes at the twins for what must have been the sixth time that morning "I know your faking being the other when I guess which is Hikaru, your both annoying I get it, now can I please study?"

Kaoru side stepped his brother, leaning down and trapping Haruhi to her right. He grabbed her study guide, throwing it aside  
"Problem solved, now play with us" 

They both leaned down, whispering into her ear. 

"You are our toy after all~" 

Haruhi stood up from her chair, sighing to herself as she walked over to retrieve the book. She turned to Kyoya who was scribbling down club data in his notebook 

"Kyoya sempai help me out here? tell these two to knock it off this test is really important" "If I could get the twins to stop dont you think I would have long ago? we're all on a break you know, think of yourself as more of a lightning bolt for their annoying tendencies" 

"So as you can clearly see, there's no getting rid of us! we have all day to convince you~"

Haruhi picked up her booklet, holding it close so they couldnt grab it again. She sighed 

"Fine, one more round of your which one is Hikaru game right? then you'll leave me alone?"

"Come on, you know what we want~" Hikaru and Kaoru grinned "and since you didnt guess correctly-" "You two cheated, I know which is which and have for years-"

"We get to hang out after school!" 

The two smirked at her, waiting her eye twitch in annoyance at the interuption.

"We get to eat your commoner cooking" 

"We get to play videogames with you on your really tiny commoner TV" 

"Quite the way to spend white day dont you think~?"

Haruhi's eyes narrowed at the mention of the holiday. She never really liked it anyways, all the commercialism, the cutesy hearts and bought affection wasnt her favorite. She hasnt liked it since she was younger when she took well advantage of the chocolate she'd get, sometimes without have even given any to anyone the month prior. 

Haruhi sighed, she had no choice, the twins wouldnt relent and she knew it. 

"Well if I cant study for the test in my free time at school, then I'll have to study at home, which means no video games, or food at my house anyways. So if you can let me study in peace here......" 

She mentally cursed the idea "You can stay.....TWENTY minutes at my house this weekend! thats all! then you leave and do other creepy twin stuff somewhere else!" 

"Hm..." 

The twins looked at eachother, considering the time they were given. 

"Of course it's a deal" 

"however we must warn you Haru-chan" 

"You may want us around longer at the end of the day" 

Haruhi glared at them both, moving over to one of the nearby tables to study "A school full of stuffy rich girls to go after and they decide to annoy me at the most inconvenient times..." 

The twins flashed eachother a mischievous grin before going to sit down beside Honey and Mori Sempai. Despite ignoring his table manners, honey happily waved to them both with cake in his mouth. "Hika-chan! Kao-chan! do you two wanna help me eat these cakes? Takashi wont help me" 

"Were good"

Kyoya raised an eyebrow to them, looking up from his work "Are you sure it's a good idea to go over to Haruhi's house without inviting Tamaki? or even asking His or Ranka's permission? He may be a bit angry considering she is his 'little girl'" 

"Your her supposed 'mommy' and you dont have a problem with us" 

Honey Sempai smiled "Kyoya's not a regular mom, he's a cool mom!" 

"I'm just saying, you two are bound to receive backlash, especially since it's on this specific holiday, your just asking for another Tamaki tantrum and thats something we all have to deal with"

"Hikaru and I already have that under control"

"All we have to do is not care in the slightest, it's simple!" 

"He's still sick remember?" 

"Indeed I do remember Kaoru, if I remember he's supposed to be out for at least a day or two more right?" 

"If he's not here to stop us from asking Hahuri in the first place, thats his fault"

"Besides, Haru-chan's dad wont mind, remember he thinks highly of litterally everyone BUT Tama-chan!" Honey added, stuffing another fork full of cake into his mouth. "Such a good dad! really nice to Haru-chan!" 

"I'll contact him anyways, I'll say you two are coming to visit, knowing you I can tell by the end of the day you'll forget to even ask for yourselves" Kyoya pulled out his cellphone, typing in a few numbers before getting up and walking a distance away to speak. 

The twins glanced at eachother 

"Suck up"

"So what are you two actually planning?"

They looked at Honey sempai, brushing off the question 

Mori put a warning hand on his cousin's shoulder "Dont ask, they might drag you into their plan somehow" 

"Well duh"

Hikaru motioned to Honey, placing his hands on his cheeks.

"No one can yell at that face!" 

"He's our ticket to immunity, against both Haruhi and her father. If he can distract Haruhi we can basically do as we please" 

"With enough fancy tuna she might even cook enough food for us to have leftovers!"

"It's perfect"

Takashi lightly smacked Hikaru's hands away from honey's face 

"Dont use him for your bribe please"

"Unless your offering me cake or a new stuffed animal for Usa-chan to play with so she wont get lonely!" 

Honey held up his stuffed animal, slightly hinting towards his demands. 

Hikaru and Kaoru shrugged 

"We can swing by a store on the way" 

"Grab a quick friend for her, it's as easy as that"

They held out their hands for honey to shake.

"As long as you help us, it's a deal"

Mori quickly smacked their hands back before Honey could seal the deal "No it's not, his fans give him enough stuffed animals, Usa-chan has many friends" 

"but Takashi!" honey whined "Usa-chan isn't only there for a new friend, she also likes Haru-chan's cooking!" 

"Come on Mori-Sempai, why dont you come with us if your so worried?" 

"Food, fun, and toying with our favorite commoner!"

"What could possibly be a better way to spend the afternoon?"

Takashi gave them an un-phased neutral look, looking down into his tea cup 

"you two do that every day, theres no difference in annoying her at home than in the club room" 

"but Takashi! can't we go please? Haruhi will be all alone if we dont go! Usa chan and I wanna keep her company" 

"So do we~"

"Seems like the vote is three to one Mori-Sempai" 

Kyoya walked back over to the group, putting his phone back in his pocket "Ranka said it's alright if the boys accompany Haruhi home today, but I'm sure she'd also accept Mori-Sempai and Honey-Sempai as well to keep things secure. She's out of town with family for the next few days anyways, so I'm allowed to watch over Haruhi and the appartment as well. I'll be joining you"

"Yay! we're going to Haru-chan's house again!" The small Lolita clapped his hands exitedly. 

Takashi glanced at Kyoya, slightly annoyed at the blatant encouragement, despite knowing what the twins were possibly trying to do.

They were hypocritical perverts, plain and simple. Despite their reputation as 'gentlemen' they gave all of the club a bad reputation to the one girl who they were actually trying to be nice to. When they first visited, it was them and Tamaki who she was mostly angry with, Honey, Kyoya, and him didnt do anything except go along. She seemed angry with all of them however, but what did he do wrong? all he did was wake up and follow Honey

Just like he was doing now. 

He mentally sighed, staring down into his tea cup again while the twins and Honey talked. 

there was no getting out of this arrangement, if the twins are alone to be judged like Tamaki was supposed to be, Haruhi may stop letting any of the club members into her home at all. He had to go and make sure honey and the twins, especially the twins, didnt do anything like that. 

It would be a very long day.


	2. Double siblings, double stupidity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like I said, Kouru and Hikaru are my favorite dumbasses

"Absolutely not" 

Haruhi turned around to face the twins, wearing a strained expression 

"I'm not riding in a limo with you two, alone, again" 

"Why not?" they asked in unison.

"Cause in a confided space with two perverts like you isnt how I wanna spend the time I have free before said perverts invade my home again and force me to spend time with them!" 

"But walking is so boring!" 

"and we already called the driver!" 

Haruhi crossed her arms, she wasnt convinced

"Your the ones who chose to force a commoner to hang out with you, then dragged the rest of the club to as well. So your all walking or there is no visit" 

"We'll walk! we'll walk!" 

Haruhi sighed, knowing her patience wasnt going to last the rest of the day with the club. It was running thin and she was sure somehow the twins would drive her nuts.

"Come on, let's get going"

As they walked past the limo, Kyoya bent down beside the drivers side window 

"Call off the twins limo please? as well as the rest of ours? notify them to pick us all up at the Fujjioka residence at four" 

The driver nodded, starting the car as Kyoya caught up with the rest of the club.

It was a fairly silent walk, mostly Honey filling in conversation with the twins with the occasional 'hm' from Takashi. 

That is until they suddenly heard a certain blonde's voice yelling out to them 

Or Haruhi to be precise 

"WELCOME HOME SWEETIE! SURPRISE! DADDY'S HERE TO VISIT!"

Haruhi raised an eyebrow 

"Is that...?" 

As they approached the appartment complex, there was a very obviously exited looking Tamaki waiting at her door. 

"Tamaki? why's Tamaki at my appartment?!"

Hikaru frowned "What's he doing here?" 

"Yeah, isnt he supposed to be sick today?"

Kyoya looked up to his friend

"Tamaki told me to tell you that he was sick today so he could do something, I honestly didnt know it was this" 

They walked up to the appartment, prompting Tamaki to rush to Haruhi when she got to the door, wrapping her in a tight hug.

"Oh! Daddy missed you so much today at school! but it was all worth it for my precious little girl!"

"Sempai what are you doing here? why are you waiting for me?"

"I told a minor white lie so I could arrange your gift for tommorow! daddy spent all day picking something perfect! only the best for my sweet little angel! it's wrapped up until tommorow and is waiting in your room so dont open it yet!" 

He hugged Haruhi to his chest, prompting an annoyed sigh. She was to tired at this point to ask how Tamaki got into her house, she'd ask later.

"great....more guests...." 

The twins each took a side of Tamaki's shoulder, leaning in to mess with him a bit 

"Daddy lied to get out of school?" 

"What sort of example are you setting for your family?" 

"Mommy should be ashamed of you"

Tamaki's eyes widened, he turned to Kyoya with a nervous smile 

"Heh....Mommy could never be angry with me over something that was for the good of our little girl right....?" 

"I honestly couldn't care less, now for the thousandth time please stop referring to me as 'mommy'" 

"I'm not in trouble! best mommy ever! ha! in your identical faces creepy doppelgangers!" 

Haruhi sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose in frustration as she opened the door "God help me get through this...."

The club members all slipped off their shoes as they walked through the door. 

The twins looked around smiling at her.

"Your home never gets any less wholesome Haruhi"

"So 'cozy' " 

She rolled her eyes at the twins, mumbling under her breath at them as she stepped through the door.

"I know what you mean by 'cozy' you rich bastards..." 

"You have a wonderful home sweetie! daddy alwase loves visiting!" 

"Thanks Tamaki..." 

She walked into the kitchen, prepared to make tea when she noticed a sink full of dishes waiting for her 

"Crap, I almost forgot I said I'd do this after school" 

She looked back to the host club

"I need to wash the dishes so I can serve the tea so it might take a bit" 

Mori-Sempai raised his hand 

"Need help?" 

"sure Sempai, thanks" 

Hikaru stared guiltily at them both. He kicked himself for not thinking to do that. 

Kouru rolled his eyes at his brother, resting his hands on the table 

"Hikaru? can we talk real quick?" 

"Yeah, whatever" 

They quietly excused themselves, successfully not drawing much attention. 

Haruhi took her irritation out on the dishes, scrubbing each of them roughly before almost throwing them onto the dish rack to dry. 

Takashi raised an eyebrow before looking back to the dishes he was washing 

"Are you okay?" 

She let out a frustrated sigh, looking at him. 

"I'm really pissed off, does that count?" 

He shrugged, placing another dish on the rack

"Hm" 

She let her hands rest for a second under the running water.

"I dont mean anything against you or Honey-Sempai, it's just that I wanted to enjoy the time I'll have alone for the next few days to study and have some alone time...but they just had to wreck it....am I rude for being so....angry at them for their visits?" 

He looked to her, shaking his head

"Your home, your time, they should respect it" 

"I know....but it still feels like I'm being rude....do you ever get that feeling? like your somehow being mean? even when you know your not?" 

"All the time" He reassured, slightly lying. 

"Dont worry about it, you need time for yourself, you arent rude for that" 

Haruhi smiled at the third year, looking back to the dishes

"Thanks Mori-Sempai..."

"Hm"

Hikaru leaned against the sink, resting his hands on the faucet. He turned both of the faucets full blast to cover up their conversation. He couldnt help but notice that most of the appliences in the small room were rusted over. 

'how can commoner's live this way?'

"You missed an opportunity out there, why dont we start with that?"

He snapped back to his brother, he didnt look happy.

"Yeah! but how are we gonna get him out of here so I dont miss anymore? I cant get within a foot of her without him such a clingy perv! I wish he really had a cold!" 

"I've got that, you just worry about getting her alone and ask her on a real date will you? I agree, you should have asked to help! wouldve been your chance so now you need to find another one!" 

"okay okay, but it's really getting hard to talk to her alone! Ever since that stupid thunderstorm I'm still feeling guilty about it, our first 'date' was a disaster and I acted like a total jerk, what if she says no cause she thinks I'll ditch her again?" 

"Well maybe if you manned up and took a chance you'd see you have nothing to worry about!" 

"Easy for you to say Kouru! your not the one asking her out!" 

He put a comforting hand on his brother's shoulder 

"Everything's gonna be fine, trust me. Just relax and dont do anything stup-"

Their eyes widened when a sudden loud snap came from the faucet, followed by the frantic flooding of water spirting from the sink.

Hikaru held up the broken faucet for both of them to see. Their eyes swelled and they looked at each other

"Fuck"

"Put the faucet back on!" 

"I cant! It's snapped! damn this stupid weak poor people plumbing!" 

"Screw this! I'm out!"

Kouru rushed out the door 

Hikaru shrugged in a panic, throwing the broken piece into the garbage can and running out as well. To make it look like an accident he quickly kicked the pipe under the sink lose before rushing out as well.

The twins swiftly slammed the door behind them. 

They looked at eachother, nodding to silently agree: 

"We didnt see anything" 

The quietly slipped back into the living room, thankfully everyone was distracted in conversation

Fifteen minutes passed, in the kitchen Haruhi was lost in thought, running over her schedule for other chores she needed to do when there was a sudden tap on her shoulder

"Haruhi" 

She turned around to face Takashi

"What?"

"bathroom" 

"Huh?" 

Takashi simply pointed to the water seeping from under the crack in the door down the hall. It was almost flooding all over. 

Haruhi's eyes swelled "WHAT THE HELL?!" 

She rushed over to the bathroom, swinging open the door to reveal a much worse scene. The water flowed past her feet, ankle deep to be exact. "Oh no no no no no!" The source was the sink, the exposed area was much too flooded to reach but she could only guess something had broken by the ammount of water. 

"Guys we need to get out of here!" 

She rushed through the apartment, grabbing her keys, cell phone, and her mother's picture from her shrine. 

The twins faked expressions of concern

"What's going on?"

"A water pipe in the sink must have broke and the apartment is flooding! get your stuff we need to leave!" 

The boys did as instructed, the twins grabbed their school bags while Takashi picked up his, honey's and Honey himself as well, rushing out the door as Haruhi ushered them all out. 

Haruhi shut the front door, watching in panic as water flooded through it was well. 

"Oh my God...." 

"your dad's gonna kill all of us, were screwed" 

"Why dont we just blame it on the boss?" 

"Good idea!" 

Tamaki glared at the twins 

"Dont blame this on me! I didnt do anything! I didnt do anything Haruhi! daddy would never flood your appartment please believe me!" 

Haruhi pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh 

"Now's really not the time for your daughter/father act Sempai...how did this even happen?" 

Hikaru looked behind him, he found a young mother with her children standing near the door of the appartment next to Haruhi's.

He quickly slipped over to her, taking out his wallet

"Pst! commoner!"

She looked to him, her eyes widened when he held a small pile of cash in his hand.

"I'll pay you three million yen, take the blame for our friend's appartment flooding, I dont care how"

The woman looked at Hikaru for a moment before nodding

She rushed over to Haruhi, faking a guilty look

"Oh I'm terribly sorry about this Haruhi-chan, the girls found their big brothers firecrackers and got up to some trouble and flushed one of those little cherry bombs down our pipes to get them in trouble, it took out the plumbing for quite a few of the top tennants. I'm so sorry"

Haruhi sighed, she couldnt be angry at the woman, she knew her and she knew being a single mother was a hard job.

"It's alright Mrs. Katsukya.....I understand....."

Kyoya took out his cell phone, snapping a quick picture of the appartment

Everyone stared at him for a moment while he texted. After a few minutes they heard the phone go off. He looked down to the screen, finally explaining what he did

"Well I sent Ranka a picture of the appartment building and told her what happened, she says she's unfortunately caught up with family and wont be back for a while as previously planned. However Haruhi is still going to school right now so she cant really travle to stay with her family. I'm afraid that means you dont have a lot of options here" 

"So that means...."

"I'm afraid you have a lot to do today, do you have someone you can stay with?"

An arm was suddenly thrown around Haruhi's shoulder "Oh dont worry mommy! daddy will take care of it! I'll pay for a complete re-model of our little girl's appartment! new structure and all! my precious angel will live in poverty no more!" 

"I wasnt living in poverty in the first place Sempai!"

"No matter! What matters is where you shall stay while your appartment is being re-done! So as your father, It will be me obviously!"

Haruhi's eyes widened, as well as the twins.

"Hold on now-"

"Well neither of us would have a problem with you staying at our house" Kouru interjected

Hikaru nodded "Yeah, it'll be fun"

"think of it as a sleepover~"

"Guys I really dont want to-"

Tamaki shoved Haruhi behind him protectively "ABSOLUTELY NOT! MY LITTLE GIRL IS NOT STAYING WITH YOU TWO! DADDY SAYS NO! SHE WILL STAY WITH HER FATHER WHERE SHE BELONGS!"

Honey raised his hand between their argument

"What about us? Can Haru-chan stay with me, Takashi and Usa Chan? pleeeaaasee?"

Haruhi looked to Mori-Sempai for a second validation, honestly speaking she would feel better staying with Honey our of anyone in the host club if she had to choose.

He simply nodded, confirming it was fine, but still leaving that choice to her. He didnt want to pressure her like the rest of the club shamelessly did.

"Ahem?"

Kyoya held up his phone, grabbing the group's attention "Why dont we ask Haruhi's REAL father to settle this instead? Fighting like this in front of Haruhi's neighbors doesnt make the best impression for Ouran Academy"

They all fell silent when the phone started ringing, waiting patiently for a decision.

There was a click on the other end, they heard Ranka's voice on the other end.

"Hello Ranka, Haruhi and I wanted to settle a little argument for sleeping arangments for the club members. They all are offering her a place to stay for the time being and I suggest as her father you should break the tie on who you'd rather she stay with"

......

"Okay"

........

"Understandable"

.........

"Well I suppose thats a possibility"

.........

"Alright, thank you"

Kyoya hung up the phone

"Well it was made pretty clear: Tamaki is out of the question, she claims no offense to Hikaru and Kaoru but one teenage boy such as Tamaki is already un-trustworthy so he doesnt know if he can trust two. I'm out of the question because she knows my father may not want a commener on our property. The only ones she's willing to trust are...well"

He motioned to Takashi and Honey.

"But she also thinks Mori-Sempai would be too uncomfortable and shy and doesnt want to cause any problems with that so I believe Honey wins this one being the least hormonally threatening and the least problematic"

"We're not hormonally threatening!"

Tamaki frowned "Are you kidding?! you two are the biggest perverts at our school! Ranka made the best choice for my little Angel and I respect it! I wouldnt want my little girl near you either if I were to choose!"

"Well looks like she doesnt trust you either 'daddy'"

"Yeah boss, you have no room to talk here"

"At least she didnt mean offense to us"

Honey and Takashi looked at eachother.

They knew good and well Takashi stayed at Honey's estate nearly 24/7. The 'shy' excuse was bullcrap, it was an obvious fact out of an entire group of teenage boys, the one carrying a stuffed bunny around who lives off cake and would have trouble reaching the sink in the bathrooms was definantly safe to let his teenage daughter around.

Even though Takashi knew he and Kyoya were responsible and respectful, but respected Haruhi's father for making the obvious choice.

He also couldnt help but feel relieved Kyoya's family would have rejected Haruhi's presence in the first place. He went to his home before, it isnt exactly the most 'welcoming'. Knowing him, he'd use her stay in his home as an excuse to raise her debt.

Haruhi sighed reluctantly

"I guess....I accept your invite Honey-Sempai...."

Honey exitedly clapped his hands together, making his stuffed bunny's paws clap as well 

"Yay! Haru-chan's staying over! it'll be like a sleepover! I promise you'll love my house! You'll even get a chance to meet Usa-chan's friends!"

"Oh so he can call it a sleepover and we cant?" the twins asked together

Tamaki reluctantly nodded "Okay now I see it...that would be threatening when hell freezes over"

He pulled Haruhi into a tight hug "I promise you Daddy will visit you as much as possible! No daughter of mine with mourn her flooded apartment alone! On my honor you will not suffer alone!"

"Mommy, Daddy's being a clingy pervert again"

"NO I AM NOT!"

"Yeah you are"

"STOP IT!"

"Daddy's a pervert! Daddy's a pervert!"

Haruhi looked to Honey and Takashi, she sighed.

'So much for some me time'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first fanfiction for this series so I appologize if it isnt that good, I promise the next chapter should be up soon comment any feedback :)


	3. Honey's house

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I feel like un-like the rest of the club, Honey's family ( who focus on selflesness and refraining from diabetes appearently) doesnt flaunt their wealth like the other club members do and wouldnt have a literal fricken castle as their house (ahem Kyouya)
> 
> Speaking of *Kyouya* I've been spelling his name wrong this whole time appearently and I appologize! anyways please enjoy this chapter :)

As soon as Honey got into the car, he turned behind him, opening the dividing window between them and the driver.

"Driver? can you call and tell mom and dad that Haruhi's staying over and to have the servants get a guest room ready please? as well as a tray of strawberry cake in the dining room for when we get there! thank you!"

With that, Honey closed the dividing window again, sitting back down. Mori-Sempai shut the car door behind him, sitting down beside his cousin.

"It'll be set up by the time we get home! I know how you like strawberries Haru-chan! cake alwase makes people feel better!"

Haruhi stared at the floor of the limo, barely paying attention to anything going on around her.

She squeezed the leather seat tightly, letting out a small bit of the frustration the entire day so far caused for her. 

"Thank you both....you didnt have to do this...."

"No problem Haru-chan! I wish you were staying on happier terms but this is still gonna be fun! Right Takashi?"

"Hm"

"Since we're off school tommorow, do you wanna tour of the estate? Theres even a bunny pen set up that you really wanna see! their so cute! I know all their names!" 

"Sure Sempai...thanks...." 

"Hm" 

Mori-Sempai looked to his oblivious cousin, putting a hand on his shoulder. He leaned down to his ear.

"Just let her be, she's had a tough day" 

He looked back to Haruhi who continued to stare at the floor.

Honey hesitated, before nodding and turning to rant to his cousin instead. 

An hour later the car finally took the familiar turn into the isolated estate that the third years called home. The security gates opened for the ID'd limo, allowing them to pass by security.

"Welcome to the Haninozuka estate Haru-chan! whatdya think?" 

"It's nice Sempai...." She replied, not even looking out the window. 

"It's a really big place! try not to get lost!" he joked with a sweet smile. 

"It has my house, Takashi's house, three main dojo's, and some other buildings. One dojo for his family, one for mine, and one for students of our dad's. It's all a bit confusing but you'll get used to it I promise!" 

"Uh huh...."

If she was being completely honest with herself, she would most likely sleep the entire weekend away if she could, maybe even wake up from whatever nightmare this was. Nightmare wanst too far off to describe it, the appartment she grew up in was gone in the blink of an eye. She couldnt process all her emotions at once so she just stuck with being quiet.

The car drove through a few twists and turns on the property before finally stopping in front of what she could only assume was the main house that Honey lived in. It was the largest building of the different ones she passed and just unlike the rest of the host club's houses she was ever to, was more subtle and hid Honey's wealth a little better. It was a big house but not so that she wondered how a small family could have a palace to themselves but still kept the impression of wealth.

Honey got up, opening the dividing window again 

"Thank you driver! have a nice day!" 

Mori-sempai gave a simple 'Hm' to say the same before getting out of the car to hold the door open for his cousin, waiting a bit for Haruhi as well

Haruhi opened her own side door, subtly politely declining Mori's offer. 

He shut the door, walking to his cousins side as he happily bounced towards the front doors. 

"I'll ask where your guest room is so you can set down your backpack with ours at the front door for now if you wanna!" 

"Okay..." 

"There's cake waiting for us in the dining room remember? wanna head there first?" 

"Uh... sure...." 

Honey-Sempai pushed open the front doors, Haruhi and Mori walking in and setting their school bags down beside his on the way. 

The floors were wooden, another detail different from the other host's houses who all had either marble flooring or tile. 

It was a simple design just like the rest of the hallway as they walked. 

Despite being so simple, it felt like a home instead of a bragging right. 

They passed the nearby living room. The furniture looked like display items you would see in a home keeping magazine but at the same time they gave you the 'grandparents house' feeling from looking at them. 

There were two small couches across from one another with a small coffee table in the center. On the wall in front of the couches was a medium sized television set that looked as if it hadnt been used in a while. 

On one of these couches however was a strange woman sitting and reading a book, a cup of tea sat in front of her on the table. 

Honey immediately caught her attention

"Hi Mom! we're home!" 

The lolita boy ran over to hug the woman. She smiled lovingly, setting down the book to accept the hug. 

She had short dirty blonde hair hanging just above her shoulders. It was slightly wavy along with her her side swept bangs that matched them well. She wore a white wool sweater with long black sweat pants. 

"Welcome home boys. I didnt hear you two come in! How was school today?" 

"Hm" 

"It was great! Oh! Mom, this is Haru-chan!" 

Honey grabbed Haruhi's hand, dragging her over to the woman

She looked over to Haruhi with a curious smile 

"Oh? Arent you that first year honor student that Ouran gave the scholarship to? Haruhi Fujjioka?"

"Yes...I am..." 

'How does she know my name?'

"I was notified that you were going to be staying here for a while, we're happy to have you in our home" 

Haruhi was slightly surprised that she didnt even question her staying there. Did they ever ask any questions of anyone?! 

"Your club vice president, Kyoya Ootori keeps in contact, he told me what happened to your appartment I'm terribly sorry..." 

Bingo. That explains it.

'does he just have instant access to everyone's parents or something?' 

"Hm" 

She looked back to Mori-Sempai who subtly nodded, answering her question. Did he just pull a Kyoya and read her mind? or was it an obvious answer? 

"Your room is a few doors down from Mitsukuni's room, can you boys help her find it? Theres supposed to be a small paper with your name taped to it if you have trouble finding it" 

"Okay, follow me Haru-chan!" 

Honey quickly grabbed Haruhi's hand, practically dragging her around the corner and down the hall.

"Here it is!" 

Honey yelled down the hall, running to get Haruhi and his cousin. They had been searching for a few minutes for the specific door before Honey finally pointed it out. 

He waited for them to walk over before opening the door for Haruhi. 

"The guest rooms here have a personal washroom, a vanity, a work desk, and a wardrobe. Hope you like it!" 

Haruhi's eyes landed on the bed, main destination. She only had the uniform on her back so there wasnt really a need for the wardrobe. She didnt even have her shoes, everyone's shoes were left in the appartment and we probabaly filled with water. 

She had her school bag so at least she could study like she planned to do. 

For a minute she just wanted to let her head fall on that pillow and try to wake up, if she couldnt then she'd just study until she passed out instead. At least when she did that it provided a distraction. 

"Thank you Sempai...." 

The small third year let out a small sound of joy, an oura of pink flowers practically circled his person 

"I'll leave you to get settled for now!" 

He turned to his cousin, grabbing his arm

"Come on Takashi! theres still an un-eaten cake in the kitchen! go ahead and meet us there when you wanna Haru-chan! bye!" 

"Hm" 

She gave a small wave goodbye as Honey dragged his cousin off down the hall. 

She shut the door, letting out a frustrated sigh as she sunk to the floor. 

First on the agenda, situate yourself. 

Second on the agenda, call dad and sort through everything for yourselves for when he finally get's back 

Whenever that'll be considering why he left in the first place. 

With that in mind she reached for her pocket, taking out her cell phone. 

"Please pick up...."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story for Ouran Highschool host club and before this I did Hazbin hotel, that show also has a small happy go lucky charecter named Nifty. I know Honey and Nifty are similar but there are a bunch of ways Honey is different. In this chapter he's mostly trying to compfort Haruhi in his own way, he doesnt really take the hint that she's really upset because she doesnt show it. Being Honey (He's not some oblivious idiot by the way) he's being himself just in case it can make her feel better when she's ready to feel better. I know my potrayal probabaly isnt the best so if I screw up on his charecter please tell me I'd love some feedback :)


	4. Take a break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honestly who could say no to Honey?

Are you sure about this dad....?" 

Mori-Sempai raised an eyebrow. He stopped in his tracks outside Haruhi's room, the conversation obviously on speaker phone catching his attention. 

"Kyouya told me that Tamaki boy already got a settled price and time span for the apartment and it's two months.....I'll try to hurry back as soon as I can, I can leave things here   
in a day or two if you want....?" 

"No.....your fine.....just pass on my support to aunt Akako's family okay....? all you need to do is worry about taking care of things over there.....I'll see you then....love you dad, bye" 

He heard the phone click as the phone call ended along with a small sigh from Haruhi.

He looked back towards the living room where his cousin was waiting patiently for him to bring any extra throw blankets he had in his room so he could make a blanket fort. Although it was tedious he had agreed. 

He contemplated just ignoring what he heard and walking past the door. 

That sigh was what finally made him decide against it. 

If Haruhi were to step one foot near Honey now, he'd want her to stay and watch whatever movie he had picked. It was difficult to say no normally, now that he had himself wrapped in a 'blanket cape' it was impossible. 

Even though it wasnt likely, he could at least attempt to take her mind off everything with a movie. Besides, if she were studying for the last three hours surely it was time she took a break. He knew she wanted to find a distraction instead of dealing with everything, and respected it to an extent. She was an honor student though, so she was studying enough already. One hour couldnt hurt her and it would get his cousin to stop pestering her for the night.

He lightly knocked on the door

"Haruhi" 

He heard her walk towards the door, answering it with an un-readable expression 

"Mori-Sempai?" 

He noticed that unfortunately, she was still wearing her uniform from the day prior without her blue jacket. He had almost forgotten that she didnt get to grab anything before running out of the apartment. 

When would she notice? Or did she just not pay it any attention. He knew from wearing these certain uniforms that despite being a school of wealth, the uniforms were slightly uncomfortable when worn for long periods of time. They were meant more for show of class in their students.

Wearing it to bed was sure to be irritating.

"Mitsukuni wants to see you in the living room" he lied. "He has something to show you" 

He knew for an hour now his cousin had been showing off his blanket cape to anyone who passed by the living room. The servants humored him or gave a simple compliment and his brother simply ignored him, muttering an insult before walking away. 

He would most likely rope Haruhi into staying if he asked in an attempt to pay off whatever needless guilt she felt over his generosity.

She raised an eyebrow 

"Does he?" 

"Hm" 

She suspected it had something to do with another cute thing he was fascinated with at the moment. Probably something that involved Usa-chan. 

Whatever it was she shrugged it off, following the quiet third year down the hall

As soon as she stepped foot into the living room she was bombarded with a sudden embrace from Honey, nearly knocking her off guard. 

"Haru-chan!"

She looked up at the small boy with a tired smile. He jumped back, showing off the blanket tied around the collar of his PJ shirt. 

"look at this cool blanket cape Takashi tied for me! Isnt it cool?" 

She was trapped. 

With that, Mori subtly left the room, knowing Haruhi wouldnt be able to. It was easier than he thought it would be. 

He turned back towards the hall, leaving to get the blankets he originally went for. 

He counted at least six throw blankets he kept in his room that he was able to gather for honey, his room was alwase colder durring the winters and hottest in the house durring the summer's. His floors stayed tile instead of having carpet thanks to Honey's habit of bringing his pets to visit. They had soiled too many carpets to keep replacing so he just relented to have tile.

He kept smaller pets himself, ones that were more managable over 'cuteness'. Easily fed and kept was his go-to when having pets. 

His phone went off, lighting up his dark room. 

He walked over to his nightstand, picking up his phone. It was a message from the club groupchat or better known as 'The fam chat' as officialy named by Tamaki. 

He looked at the messages.

Hikaru: Will you stop sending those memes in the chat? 

Kouru: They arent even funny :/

Tamaki: I'm sending them for Haruhi not you two 

Kyouya: Your supposed to be helping with cosplay brainstorming right now, what happened to 'an imortant message from my servants' 

Tamaki: Forgive my lies mommy....

Kyouya: Your a moron

Tamaki: I was just trying to make our precious daughter laugh in her time of sorrow T-T 

Hikaru: The same daughter you once tried to throw poisonous snakes at? that 'precious daughter'?

Kouru: By the way, this family sucks just so you know 

Tamaki: We agreed not to discuss the beach house in this family ever again! this is why your sister is my favorite child!

That night at the beach house suddenly popped into Mori's head bringing a slight blush to his cheeks. He put his phone back down on the dresser, shutting off his lights as he closed the door behind him.

Since the little 'incident' at the beach house he and Haruhi didnt really talk as much, except of course the occasional attempts at idle conversation or something involving Honey. 

It was a mutual agreement to keep it from the rest of the club

That last night would flash through his mind sometimes, causing him to glance at Haruhi in a different way than before. 

It wasn't necessarily 'awkward' but it was enough to bring that singe of guilt he felt all the way back into his mind for his actions.

"Taka-kun!" 

The familiar voice that belonged to Satoshi shot across the room, grabbing his attention.

His younger brother had a blanket tied around his shirt as Honey had, acting childish right beside him. Apparently inviting himself to the movie night with no objections. 

He was Haruhi's age, his class was close to the twins and her's but he acted like a child whenever he and Honey met up at home. While he humored Honey in different ways such as pretending Usa-chan had a conscience, his brother was there to play along with his more childish ideas such as building forts or in this case tying blankets around their necks despite the movie Honey had chosen having nothing to do with super heroes. 

Haruhi sat awkwardly on the couch between them. She glanced to him with a frown. 

Yes he had tricked her, but he didnt feel guilt about it in any way. It's not like she was gonna tell Honey no.

Only his family and he himself had ever had the strength to do so to a Haninozuka.

"I went to get a glass of water before bed when I noticed you guys were setting up a huge blanket fort! I wanted to help so I'm staying up with you guys! Your friend Haruhi is really quiet isnt she?" 

He lightly elbowed Haruhi in the arm with a laugh.

"We're in the same grade, I just assumed you'd be more talkative and let lose when your not around all those crazy girls right? Cat got your tongue or something?" 

"I'm just tired" Haruhi muttered in a quiet tone.

"Oh yeah, by the way I heard about your commoner apartment from the servants! that must suck! I cant imagine if my house flooded! all my stuff ruined just like that? must really suck right? Is that why you didnt come to dinner tonight to say hi? I'll let it slide tonight but you should have showed up and met the rest of us! Dinner was so quiet I swear I heard a pin drop!" he joked.

Another thing about Mori's younger brother, he wasnt great at reading a room. 

He sat down beside Haruhi, handing Honey the pile of blankets in the process of slightly blocking his brother from asking anything else. 

"Haru-chan! why arent you in your PJ's? it's night time!" Honey blurted out, changing the subject for him. 

Haruhi shrugged "I didnt really think about it, I've slept in my uniform shirt before, it's fine for now."

"Dont be silly! You cant sleep in your uniform! We'll have the servants wash and iron it for Monday, till then we have to find you something snuggle worthy!" 

He turned to Mori

"Where can we find Haru-chan night cloths though?" 

"Raid our mom's closest? All she's been wearing for the past few days are sweats and a hoodie so she might have some spares"

"Guys there's really no need-" 

"Good idea!" Honey smiled "Aunt Mayu should have something for you Haru-chan!" 

Mori looked at Haruhi again, hoping she wouldnt blame him for calling out her lack of living supplies. 

He would have talked to her about getting her some cloths to borrow in a more private place but Mitsukuni had beat him to it. 

He looked away, following his brother down the hall again. 

The boys soon reached their mothers door, knocking quietly. 

"Come in!" 

The lights in her room were off, the only thing radiating light was her laptop that sat at the edge of the bed as she scrolled through it. 

They could see the outline of a woman with long black hair in a tight bun on top of her head with her bangs hanging in her eyes. She wore a big black hoodie and was sitting criss cross on her bed in baggy sweatpants

"Hey mom, still working?" 

She looked up from the screen giving her sons a tired smile

"Hey boys what are you two doing up so late?" 

"Taka-kun's friend needs some PJ's, do you have any spare sweat pants and a spare hoodie or something?" 

She looked over to her older son.

"For that Haruhi girl right? Sure she can borrow something, go ahead and find something suitable okay? Tell her I said Hi" 

She pointed over to a nearby dresser before getting back to her work

"Thanks mom" 

"Hm" 

The boys began rummaging through the drawers, Mori's younger brother pulling out shirts to show him for approval.

"Why don't we give her this tank top?"

His brother held up a black lace top first. Haruhi would never wear something like it. Even in a dress on her days off she wore pants underneath. Boy's clothing was more comfortable for her. 

He turned back to the shirt drawer, trying to find something other than the under shirts that his mother wore under her hoodie. Since no one would see them, she didnt care how little cloth it took to make them. 

"She doesnt like lace" 

Satoshi raised an eyebrow

"How do you know?" 

"I just know, no lace" 

"Yeah, should be easier to find pants, how many pairs of sweats do you own mom? like two hundred?"

His mother looked up from her screen again, slightly laughing

"Dont judge me, their soft! and it's only about fifty pairs!" She joked.

Mori picked out a pair of black sweat pants, closing the pants drawer.

"Any normal shirts?" 

"Just sleeveless or tank tops in here, no luck" 

Their mother looked up again

"Sorry I couldnt help much boys" 

"It's fine" 

"Thanks anyways mom"

They stood up, walking out of her room with the sweat pants. 

Satoshi shrugged "Well what do we do about a sleep shirt?"

"Hm" 

He didnt answer, simply walking ahead to his room. He didnt even give it much thought before walking in and rummaging through his own drawers, emerging from the room with a simple black T-shirt. 

He came back out, adding the shirt to the stack of cloths. He saw his brother's eyes widen.

"Your gonna give her one of your shirts? Wont that kinda piss off her boyfriend?" 

Mori raised an eyebrow at him

"Boyfriend?" 

"I think it's one of those weird Hitachiin twins, Hikaru? I can never tell the difference but they seem pretty close with her I just assumed she was dating one of them" 

Mori shook his head.

"No" 

"Still you sure she'll be okay with wearing your shirt?" 

He simply nodded, turning to walk back down the hall, Haruhi wouldnt care about such a menial thing like this. 

It wouldnt be the first time she slept in one of his shirts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well that was an exhausting chapter to pull but I finally got it done and I hope ya'll like it! Have a great day :)


	5. Commoner's outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honey knows something

The movie, or rather movies Honey had selected brought the group late into the night.

Haruhi was curled up on the couch, staring at her feet the entire night as Honey and his cousin enjoyed their night eating candy and then occasionally throwing said candy at one another yelling 'taste the rainbow!'

Mori kept his eyes panning to her every once and a while, noticing how she never seemed to move from her position.

She had her fingers dug deep into the couch again, striking a sting of guilt. He was wrong to try and trap her into a movie night as a distraction. This wasnt a simple stressful situation for her. He knew this because her apartment wasnt the only reason she was like this.

A simple apartment flood couldnt cause the look of subtle worry and fear she let slip through her neutral stare.

Now add the fact she was being forced to stay up until midnight watching a movie

So when he heard a small yawn come from her he almost smiled.

He turned back to Haruhi who was struggling to keep her tired eyes open

"Hm"

He lightly tapped her on the shoulder, causing her head to turn.

He motioned to the hallway, asking if wanted to go to sleep. She subtly nodded, getting up from the couch with him.

Honey noticed this, turning to them.

"Where are you going Haru-chan! this is the best part!"

"I'm sorry sempai but I'm really tired...is it alright if I take a rain check for the next three movies in the series?"

Honey nodded, waving goodbye 

"Okay, sweet dreams Haru-chan!"

They walked down the hallway in comfortable silence, Haruhi's body slightly eased as she walked. She was finally able to sleep off the day. 

He smiled slightly, but it quickly dropped when Haruhi suddenly stopped walking. She turned to him with a smile.

"I know you trapped me with Honey-Sempai tonight"

He internally froze. Of course she figured it out, she was too smart for that. 

"Thank you" 

He was a bit surprised, seeing as if the twins or Tamaki tried to trap her from her work she'd be irritated.

"Today....today wasnt the best.....and I know I've been quiet since I got here......just so you and Honey-Sempai both know.....I'm relieved he asked me to stay here instead of with the others...." 

"I understand" He nodded. He knew she were with the twins they wouldn't have been as patient with her, or even made things worse. 

Haruhi let her smile drop, rubbing the back of her neck nervously

"Sempai is being really generous and sweet and I appreciate his efforts to make me feel better but I'm actually fine, I'm just tired and I promise I'll try to be in a better mood for him tommorow and the rest of the time I'm here. Thank you all for your hospitality" 

"No problem" 

They continued walking down the hall in silence again, reaching Haruhi's door before either of them spoke again. 

"Thank you to you and your family for giving me these cloths by the way" 

She held out the edges of the night gown sized T-shirt. 

"It's comfortable" she slightly laughed. 

He hesitated before opening her door for her. Tamaki wasnt here this time to notice if she gave it back or not to keep him from freaking out. He wouldve offered her to keep the shirt he gave her before if it hadn't been for him. 

She deserved to be comfortable

"You...can keep it if you want" 

Her eyes slightly widened. She raised an eyebrow at him, recieving his unreadable poker face.

Was he serious? 

"Are you sure...?" 

He simply nodded, giving her a small wave goodbye as he walked down the hall towards his own room. 

She looked down to the shirt again before a small smile landed on her lips. 

"Thank you" 

She quietly shut her door, causing him to look back. He smiled to himself as he walked. 

"Your welcome" 

"Haru-chan!" 

Haruhi's eyes shot open in surprise when the door to her room was swung open and Honey-Sempai came rushing in. 

Like a child would do on Christmas morning he hopped up onto her bed, lightly shaking her to sit up. 

"Good morning! Breakfast is ready in the kitchen! Are you up yet?" 

Haruhi blinked slowly, rubbing her eyes 

"Huh...? y-yeah I'm up...." 

Honey laughed, effortlessly pulling her from the bed and to her feet

"What time is it? do you know?" 

"It's Eleven in the morning so we can still have pancakes!" 

Haruhi nodded, silently confirming to herself the reason Honey was even awake. He didnt wake up well normally so she could only guess weekends he slept in, woke up on his own, and was fresh as a daisy just like any other day.

"I woke her up Takashi! Come on let's get to breakfast!" 

Haruhi turned towards the doorway where the familar raven haired third year stood, holding Usa-chan in one hand and leaning against the door for support with the other.

He looked more tired than she was. 

Honey laughed, pulling her out her door but not before jumping up and snatching his stuffed companion from his cousin before skipping down the hall. 

Haruhi looked up to Mori as she passed by him, giving him a small smile. 

"Good morning Sempai...how did you sleep?" 

He shrugged, walking beside her

"Fine, You?" 

Haruhi shook her head 

"Barely, my phone kept going off from the group chat with everyone, kept lighting up the room..."

"Do you want them to stop?" He offered

Haruhi shook her head, a bit surprised he was talking a bit more than his normal 'hm' or two word responses. 

"It's fine, my phone died around three in the morning why do you think I actually slept in for once? Tamaki-Sempai wasnt blowing it up the minute he woke up" she joked, slightly laughing

Mori tried, but before he could think with any sort of restraint or common sense about what he was doing he was lazily ruffling Haruhi's already messed up hair with a small laugh of his own. 

"Probably missed that laugh as much as the rest of us do" 

Haruhi tensed up, blushing with a nervous smile as he let go, walking down the hall ahead of her. 

Only then did his tired smile finally drop when he remembered what he did. He slightly cursed himself, keeping his now flushed face ahead of her sight.

'What was I thinking...' 

They walked into the kitchen to see what would be a typical Saturday morning for them. 

His brother was in a small contest with Honey to see who could fit the most pancakes in their mouth while Yasuchika ate in silence and distain for their table etiquette. 

Haruhi's eyes fixated on the table which was filled with an assortment of mostly sweet breakfast foods. Doughnuts, pancakes, and toppings for them. 

Honey had already piled his with whipped cream and sprinkles as expected. 

Yasuchika however just sat with a cup of coffee and some toast on his plate. 

Mori walked over to the counter in silence, leaving Honey to bring her over to sit between him and Satoshi. 

"Hey Haru-chan! wanna see how many pancakes I can fit in my mouth? my record so far is five!"

"He is a worthy opponent!" Satoshi declaired, taking another pancake from the tray. 

He turned around to find his older brother pouring a bottle of surprisingly familiar coffee grounds into the coffee maker.

One that he knew his brother never drank or needed to drink.

"Taka-kun? why are you drinking the extra caffeine grounds?" 

"Hm. I was going to practice in the dojo today" He wasnt technically lying. He was going to train sometime that day anyways. 

"Okay...? but only mom drinks that stuff, it wakes you up and keeps you that way for a while..."

Why did he need to wake up so suddenly? He'd normally just let himself wake up in time.

Mori let his tone snap a bit, resorting to his ordering tone he used when his brother was pushing the limit. He didnt need to explain what he really wanted to say, which was 'I said something stupid to Haruhi in the hall and dont wanna do it again!' 

"Coffee is coffee, just eat your breakfast. now." 

He watched as his brother tried to read his expression before shrugging it off.

He sat back down at the table, Honey changing the subject when Mori followed, sitting down beside him. 

"Haru-chan! I changed my mind about todays plans!" 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, trying to keep an open mind to whatever it may be like she promised herself. She was still drained from the day prior but she still pushed herself to try and keep up with the loli boy. 

"Yeah? what did you have in mind then Sempai?" 

"I wanna go to a commoner's mall today! pick your favorite mall and we'll go!" 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow to the older boy, slightly reluctant to his idea. 

"Really? I kinda thought you wanted to see those bunnies though.....?" 

"Oh! a commoners mall? can I go too? I've never been to one!" Satoshi piped up, eyes lightly glinting with exitement. 

"It's so cool! the one we went to last summer served ice cream on the roof!" Honey exclaimed. "They had all types of cool stuff there! Tama-chan even got a dog at a 'pet shop'! It was so cute!" 

Satoshi turned to Haruhi 

"You have to show us a commoners mall! please?" he pleaded, holding up his hands. 

She looked to them both, pleading with puppy dog eyes at this point. They really wanted to see 'poor people' stuff that bad? Why did it fascinate rich kids to see something she saw every day? 

Seeing no other option though she relented with a shrug.

"Um...Okay...sure....I just need to get ready real quick and comb my hair before we go if thats okay"

"your hair looks cute like it is though" 

The conversation completely stopped when everyone simultaneously stared straight at the source of the monotone-voiced compliment. 

Mori.

He looked up from his coffee, almost unaware that he said anything. 

'I'm trying to wake up, just give me a while. Dont act so surprised.' He thought, slightly frustrated when he realized he had let another compliment slip.

He looked over, Haruhi's face was slightly flushed, causing a small smile to land on his lips.

"Uh...thanks Sempai....."

Honey swerved his chair around to his guardian so fast he could've sworn he turned the earth with it.

"Hey Takashi?" 

"Yeah?" he asked, not really paying attention.

Honey grabbed a doughnut from the table, quickly shoving it into his cousins mouth to shut him up before he could blurt something else out.

"Your welcome" He whispered, turning back to his breakfast.

Honey shoveled another bite of pancake into his mouth, still studying his cousin with a tinge of worry while Satoshi continued flooding Haruhi with more commoner questions.

He already knew that when his cousin was tired wither it was after kendo practice or early in the morning he didn't practice his self restraint as well, causing him to say things he'd probably normally bury in the back of his brain out of respect. 

This wasn't the first time he had unconsciously complimented the young hostess in a state similar to this. 

She started invading his mindless sentences months prior, this was probably just the first time he let one of them slip in front of the actual person it was about. 

His cousin would've felt some sort of shame for letting his manners slip, especially in front of anyone who was paying attention, luckily the rest of the family knew how to brush it off if it were normal sleep talk like a light insult or even occasionally a curse word if he was really exhausted. 

Flirting however was what made them all stare at him for a bit longer.

'I left my money in the appartment when I left....wow, how clever of me....' 

Haruhi sat boredly on a bench, watching random people pass by. Why shop without money? 

It wasnt so bad she thought, she was alone with her thoughts at least. She was able to relax on the bench for a bit while the boys enjoyed the smaller things she took for common. 

"Hey Haruhi! check out what I got for Mitsukuni!" 

Satoshi rushed up to Haruhi snapping her from her thoughts, in his hands he presented a stuffed plush of a tiger wearing a mini karate outfit. 

"I found his Usa-chan doll a Takashi of her own to keep her safe! Her name is Tiger-shi! You think Taka-kun will like it too?"

Haruhi slightly smiled, looking down at the stuffed creation. 

"It's cute, why dont you show it to sempai?" 

Satoshi shook his head 

"Taka-kun and Mitsukuni went off on their own to find 'something' while I was making Tiger-shi. He said to stick together in the area and to watch out for you till they came back"

He sat down beside her 

"So! tell me more about commoner's stuff! Is it true some of you are sometimes resorted to mismatched dishes to the point some of you even eat cerial out of a cup? Cause I heard that's what commoners are willing to resort to! It's crazy!" 

Haruhi frowned, leaning her head against the wall behind her 

'Mom if your watching me right now, let this weekend end soon...'

"Thank you miss!"

Honey jumped up, grabbing the shopping bags from the sales counter before handing them to his cousin. 

"I hope Haru-chan likes everything we got her! Is there anything else we should get before going to find her and Satoshi?" 

"Hm" The silent third year shook his head 

"We're good" 

Honey frowned, jumping in front of his cousin before they could walk any further. 

"So can we talk about what's going on with you and Haru-chan now?"

Mori looked away, he had left with his cousin so they could talk in private, he knew he'd want to talk to him about what he said, but now that it was time to talk he was hesitant.

As long as he was far away enough to wake up and try to pretend nothing happened until he was ready to acknowledge it. 

"You wanted to avoid her? Why?"

He hit the nail right on the head. 

Mori nodded 

"You know what I said today Mitsukuni, I've never said something like that to her and it was a shameful example of my lapse in control" 

"I know what you said, you told her that her hair was cute. What about it? I was asking why your avoiding her because I dont know why you think she'll be mad about what you said. Haru-chan is really nice and she'd likely take the compliment with a smile than anger. Why would you think she's mad?" 

"Because it happened twice, I touched her hair without asking first and told her I liked her laugh. This family has taught us a lifetime of training in self restraint, I was taught better than this." 

The loli boy gave him an understanding smile, patting him on the arm 

"I was taught the same thing you know. Haru-chan is different though Takashi. You have less control when your tired and she knew you were tired. She wouldnt hold it against you. She's our friend!"

He looked to the shopping bags in his hands. Giving her menial material gifts was something the other hosts would constantly do in an attempt to win her heart. He didnt want to look anything like them. Honey was right, she was their friend. He knew she wouldnt like it if he gave her the gifts, making it look more like he was buying her forgiveness. He wanted to properly apologize. 

Honey suddenly took the bags from him

"If it makes you feel less embarrassed I can say these were my idea, kay? I think Haruhi needs these living supplies too" 

Mori nodded, they continued walking in their comfortable silence. 

As Haruhi got ready for bed than night, after getting settled into the new leisure cloths Honey had bought her, she happily climbed into bed. She was about to drift off to sleep when her phone's dead screen suddenly lit up. 

Her eyes widened, it had been dead the entire-

She noticed the small cord running from the charging unit and into the wall socket under the nightstand. 

Her original cord was black, this one was a light grey. 

After the pieces connected in her brain she smiled, turning over to fall asleep again. 

She never told Honey about her phone. 

"Thanks Mori-Sempai..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy crap I actually got it finished! yes! This chapter was a bit tough but it was worth it! I hope ya'll enjoy reading my story as much as I like writing it, have a great day :)


	6. Not there in time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I did say there would be an incident
> 
> TW: Descriptions of blood and injury, reader discretion is advised

Haruhi winced in exhaustion as her alarm blared around the room. She weakly reached over to the nightstand, shutting it off.

The weekend went by quickly and it was already Monday again.

Great. 

She swung her legs onto the floor, standing up in the dark room while little rays of sunlight shone through the blinds. 

She dreaded the idea of looking at her messages from the group, only answering her father's daily calls through the weekend. 

There were probably at least a hundred from the twins and Tamaki but she'd put it off as long as she could manage. 

She quickly showered and got dressed in her now clean uniform.

She hadnt touched it since it was set down in her room by the servants the night prior but she deffinantly noticed a few things about it. 

For one, it was ironed. She never ironed her uniform, alwase making sure to set it separate from her other cloths so she could keep it well. 

Secondly. It smelled familiar. 

Honey and Mori's uniforms and clothing alwase smelled of either freshly baked cake or something sweet, it was a small thing that helped draw their costumers to him. In Mori's case, a more natural woodsy scent. 

Her's smelled more like Mori's in this case.

It was more subtle, so it was perfect. 

She remembered the first time Honey had hugged her, the smell on his uniform was stronger and she had to get used to the rich scent. She felt a bit sick at first. 

She snapped out of her thoughts, grabbing her school bag and packing it before walking out of the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. 

She only blinked in silence when she was face to face with someone's fist mere inches away from her nose.

She looked up to see Mori-Sempai, apparently about to knock on her door before she opened it. 

She smiled 

"Good morning Sempai, what are you doing here?" 

He stepped back from her, looking back to the door. 

"You wake up earlier than everyone else does" 

She raised an eyebrow 

"Where's Honey-Sempai? I figured you two got ready together?" 

"Still sleeping. Has another hour" 

He stepped out of her way, motioning down the hall. 

"Coffee?" he asked. 

Haruhi smiled, walking beside him as an answer. 

Thanks to the pressures school had put on her for the past years, she, just like most of her peers had some sort of caffeine addiction.

They each sat at the table in a comfortable silence, Haruhi taking the quick oppertunity to check her phone and listen to music. 

Mori glanced at her occasionally, watching her expression change a bit as she scrolled through whatever was on her screen. She occasionally let out a small laugh, bringing a barely noticeable smile to his face.

His cousin was right, Haruhi was a friend.

She wasnt angry, she didnt confront him about anything that happened on Saturday, and she seemed a bit happier than she was when she first arrived. 

Soon enough the silence was broken when Honey was awake, along with Yasuchika and Satoshi soon following. 

They all ate a quick breakfast before heading off to Ouran. 

"Come on hurry up we're gonna be late!" 

"What's the big deal?" Hikaru asked, walking his normal pace down the hall while Haruhi speed walked as fast as she could towards the music room.  
The twins had been annoying her since six that morning and still haven't left her alone. 

"Yeah, it's not gonna hurt anyone if were a minute late" Kouru added, pulling Haruhi back slightly by her shirt collar. 

"Yeah! if you two are late! If I'm late you two know Kyouya-Sempai automatically adds five yen for every minute! He made up that crappy fee thanks to you two making me an hour and a half late last week!" 

She ripped her shirt away from Kouru's grip, causing him to laugh. 

The twins smirked at eachother 

"Maybe don't run away next time we try to give you fashion advice~" they chorused

Haruhi glared at them as they approached the door. 

"Acting like perverts during a math lesson and getting us sent to detention isnt 'advice'!" 

She placed her hand on the door knob, opening it while looking back at the mischievous body doubles. 

"Just leave me alone for a bit and let me relax before club officially starts. I just wanna be alone for a bi-"

"HARUHI! THERE YOU ARE!" 

Haruhi was nearly tackled to the floor, Tamaki suddenly rushing out the door towards her and wrapping his arms tightly around her in an air-constricting grip.

"DADDY WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! I THOUGHT YOU WERE KIDNAPPED BY THESE EVIL DOPPLEGANGERS!"

Haruhi tried to shove the idiot away to no avail

"Sempai let me go I cant breath!" 

"NEVER SCARE DADDY LIKE THAT AGAIN!" 

Tamaki was in grateful tears, bawling like a child while dragging her into the room behind him. 

"MOMMY! I FOUND HARUHI! CALL OFF THE SEARCH PARTY!" 

Kyouya looked up from his notebook to his half-witted friend. He raised an eyebrow

"I never called anyone in the first place, just so you know" 

He looked over to the brunette trapped in his friends arms, an 'innocent' smile on his face.

"The guests will be here soon enough Haruhi, you have five minutes to get prepared. If you will, help the twins set up the tea sets around the room? Make sure they're pristine now, we don't want another guest complaining about the shine do we?" 

Haruhi gave him a forced smile, muttering through gritted teeth as she walked over to the china cabinets.

"Damn rich bastards..."

Hikaru smirked 

"Still glad you got here on time? you know, it's the 'stuck up' ladies who complained, so dont you mean 'damn rich bit-'"

Haruhi let out a frustrated growl 

"I swear to God Hika!" 

The club's activities soon started as normal, the accadamy's assortment of privilaged girls flooded the doors to spend a couple hours with their favorite hosts. Haruhi relished the small moments where she didnt have to talk, simply listening instead. One of the only parts of host club she enjoyed. 

Barely participating. 

That is until one of her guests unexpectedly decided to switch the topic of conversation.

"So your apartment flooded? that must have been awful!" 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow to the sudden change in the subject, snapping back from barely listening to concern. 

They had been acting strange since they sat down an hour prior, something small she noticed. She considered asking if something was wrong but decided to let them vent to her instead like they normally would.

After all, she was the most understanding to the issues females went through right? 

This however, was a surprise.

"Who told you about my apartment flooding?" 

"Kyouya-Sempai" One of the girls answered "He said you might be a bit sensitive about the subject but I just wanted to see if you were alright, I'm so so sorry" 

Her eye slightly twitched at the answer, the sudden urge to go over and strangle the shadow king to death came up.

'Of course, draw attention to my personal life for profit and sympathy for even more profit. Sounds about right for that smug bastard.' 

She looked over to his table where he sat alone, scribbling down god knows what in the same black notebook he practically had sewn to his hand. 

"Oh did he? what a surprise" She remarked sarcastically, just in ear-shot of him. 

He glanced up from his note-taking, giving her a friendly smile. 

"No need to add debt when your already ahead now. Let the lovely ladies be concerned for you if they want to" 

In other words, shut up before I make you go bankrupt out of spite. 

She was snapped out of her cursing out the shadow king session with a certain mischievous voice calling her name.

"Oh Haruhi~"

Hikaru.

She groaned in annoyance, ignoring the twins as they stepped to either side of her.

"Guess what? We're bored! we wanna play with our toy! Please come over to our table~?" Kouru whined

She huffed, trying to keep her composure in front of the guests.

They were really testing her patience when it was already at it's edge.

"Guys I'm busy, just get back to your table alright?"

"But we wanna stay~" Hikaru argued

"What do you say ladies~? Mind if we have a seat over here~?" 

Now they were turning her guests against her. 

Just great.

One of the girls smiled sweetly at them, scooting over "Oh of course you and your brother are welcome! go ahead and si-"

"You two stay away from my precious angel! now shoo! you have your own customers! go annoy them with your perverted antics!" 

Tamaki rushed up to the table, without a hint of hesitance to leaving his own guests behind to keep the twins away. 

Hikaru and Kouru smirked at each other before each of them wrapped an arm around Haruhi's right, pulling her from her seat, simultaneously switching their plans from annoying her to annoying the clubs king instead. 

"Fine! We'll go boss-" 

"But we're taking OUR toy with us~" 

"I'm not your t-" 

"NONSENSE! HARUHI IS STAYING RIGHT HERE!" 

Tamaki gripped Haruhi's left arm, ripping her into his direction. 

The twins replied by pulling her harder towards their table. 

"We wanna play! we're bored!" 

Haruhi knew Kyouya could find someway to profit from anything the twins put her through so he wouldnt help, so she nearly called out for Mori to save her once again, but her eyes widened in sudden panic when she remembered he and Honey were still running an errand and weren't there at all.

'Kyouya you lazy bastard, you couldn't get off your butt and go get the mini plates yourself?!'

The tug of war between the twins and Tamaki had officially started, drawing in the attention of the rest of the guests. 

Some screamed in fangirling delight, some cheered for the twins, some cheered for Tamaki. 

No one seemed to notice the growing look of discomfort on Haruhi's face as their pulling got rougher or as the yelling grew louder and more violent.

"SHE'S OUR TOY!"

"Ow! guys that h-"

"SHE'S MY CHILD!"

"Guys stop!"

"LET HER GO!"

"Your hurting me! stop please!"

"LET GO OF HER! SHE'S OURS!"

Haruhi's shouts reached throughout the room, grabbing everyone's attention one last time before all hell suddenly broke loose.

"Guy's stop! your really hurting m-"

SMACK

The whole room broke out into gasps of shock, instantly falling silent.

Haruhi's hands moved to her right eye, falling to the floor from the impact. She groaned in pain, fighting to hold back tears and inevitably failing. Her teeth gritted in pain as the world shut out everything around her for a second, the impact still ringing through her head.

A few of her fans were suddenly to her side, desperately asking if she was okay while everyone else began to panic. 

So when the door to the music room opened, it turned everyone's attention to none other than Mori following Honey as he happily skipped into the room.

"Kyo-chan! we got the pla-" 

The small blonde suddenly froze, he looked around at the shocked faces, following their eyes to meet whatever they were staring at.

"What's going on...?" 

Their eyes both widened when they landed on the scene in front of them. 

The twins: Standing above a scared looking Haruhi 

Tamaki: Standing above a scared looking Haruhi

Haruhi: On the floor, covering her eye while wincing in pain. 

Everyone's eyes bolted over to the once pristine set of serving saucers that were now shattered on the floor, forgotten about instantly. 

Before they knew what was happening Mori had Hikaru pinned to a nearby wall with his arm against his throat, the other twin held from his shirt collar from escaping. 

Honey followed his lead

Tamaki was frozen in place, not being able to move from the loli boy's angry trance. He would keep him there until Mori could get to him. If he tried to run away he would end up the same as the twins.

"Who did it" 

Mori turned his attention to the twins. His face didnt show the building rage, somehow a stern and unreadable expression was much more terrifying to everyone in that room than the glare he wanted to give them. 

Hikaru didnt even miss a beat, pointing his now trembling hand over to the blonde king of the host club to pin the blame.

"T-Tamaki! It was the boss! I swear!" 

"Y-yeah! he took a swing at Hikaru!" Kouru nodded, 

"Haruhi accidentally got in the wa-oof!"

Hikaru was carelessly dropped to the floor, his twin quickly rushing to his side. 

Mori's attention turned to Tamaki. 

Without even looking at his cousin he spoke in a quiet tone, pointing to the door.

"Mitsukuni. Infirmary. Now." 

Haruhi shook her head instantly protesting

"Sempai I'm fine, things just got a little out of control. I'm fine, look"

She removed her hand to reveal a little more than half her eye had turned a deep red, most likely a popped blood vessel. The rest of the area was slowly turning a deep blue and purple mixture.

She was not fine.

Some of the girls let out gasps, a few even screamed from the sight of blood. He bit back the urge to rush over as fast as he could, fighting showing as much panic as his body wanted him to for her.

That wasnt a normal punch on accident

That was a punch that was meant to really hurt someone.

Tamaki let out a girlish scream, Haruhi covered her eye in a panic.

"What? is it bad?"

"Oh God! Cover it up! cover it up! Mama! Get the guests out of here right now!"

Kyouya addressed the crowd while the twins quickly began ushering them all out of the room. Surely he cared now that money was possibly being lost, it was frustrating that THAT was the only way he would care.

He couldve easily stopped all of this but he did nothing.

The twins and Tamaki werent the only ones getting talked to about this as soon as he had the chance

"Ladies, we kindly ask that you step out into the hallway while we tend to Haruhi's injuries. We will be back to entertain you all shortly if you dont mind the inconvenience"

As soon as the girls were reluctantly ushered from the room Mori turned his attention to his cousin. 

"I said infirmary, Mitsukuni. Now." 

Honey quickly grabbed Haruhi, getting her to her feet. He handed her his Usa-chan doll before walking beside her, muttering comforting things as they left the room. 

As soon as the door shut Mori swerved around to Tamaki, pinning him to the wall as he had done to Hikaru.

"Explain."

"Kyouya! h-help me!" 

The raven-haired boy shook his head

"Actually, I'm also curious to know what happened. Resorting to hitting isnt like you Tamaki"

The twins walked up, Hikaru shooting the blonde a glare 

"Yeah boss! why did you try and swing at me!" 

"We were only fooling around!" Kouru continued "What's your problem!" 

"I-I was protecting Haruh-" 

"No." Mori pinned him closer to the wall 

"Your answering me. Not them."

Tamaki stared at Mori, awe struck for a moment before stuttering out a response. 

"I-I was trying to get H-Haruhi away from them.....t-they were bothering her....I-I-I-It was an accident....M-Mori Sempai p-please don't hurt me....w-were friends...." 

"Hm" 

That would be up for debate after this. If he could come up with a better explanation, which wasn't likely for something like this, then he could consider Tamaki his 'friend' again

He just acted on plain protective instinct at this point, he could worry about how to process everything when he got home. He just knew no one in that club was innocent for what had happened and he didnt know what they were to him.

So openly considering them 'friends' probably wasn't gonna happen anytime soon until one of them took their share of blame. 

Like he was going to do.

He let Tamaki fall to the floor.

"I'll talk to you three later, till then you wont go near her." 

That was an order, not a question to witch all of them replied with frantic nods. They sure as hell weren't gonna argue with a kendo master.

He turned towards the door, walking out of the room in silence to catch up with his cousin and Haruhi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if shit's going down so early in the story, I know this chapter may not be the best but I'll try to make up for it in the next one. Thanks for reading :)


	7. No need for apologies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's basically just fluff

"Just keep your eye clean and dont put any strain on it. The swelling and bruising should go away soon enough and the blood vessle should heal on it's own. Otherwise you should be just fine miss Fujioka. You can rest here for a bit before leaving"

Haruhi nodded, keeping an ice pack firmly held against her eye.

"Would you like me to notify your father?" the nurse asked, motioning towards the phone. She shook her head with a nervous smile

"It's fine, I'd rather he not know this happened"

The nurse nodded, walking out of the room to tend to other students.

Honey sat beside Haruhi on the examination table, swinging his legs back and forth with a contagious smile.

"I'm sure you'll be okay Haru-chan! black eye's are actually kinda fun if you think about it!"

Haruhi smiled, still hugging the Usa-chan doll he had given her.

"Oh really? how's it fun?"

Honey froze, still smiling

"Uh...I didnt think that far ahead!"

Haruhi giggled, bringing a relieved smile to the loli boy's face

"That's alright Sempai, thanks anyways"

She looked over to Mori-Sempai, leaning against the counter on the opposite side of the room.

He hadnt said a word since he walked into the infirmary, instead sitting back like that. There wasnt really anything to say, she couldnt help but wonder what happened after she and Honey left the music room.

She remembered what she saw before, and the fact that he got so defensive surprised her.

Then again in his defense, Tamaki had never resorted to trying to punch the twins to get them away from her. Nor did she expect the punch to be that tough for someone who refers to their best friend as 'Mommy' and is afraid of a cat puppet.

She sighed reluctantly, hopping down from the table

"So do you guys wanna head back to the club room yet? I'm sure Tamaki-Sempai is probabaly gonna tackle me the minute I show up but if I dont show up he might have a heart attack or somethig thinking I died"

Mori stepped up, shaking his head as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"They'll be fine"

Honey nodded, walking towards the door.

"I'll go tell Kyo-chan we're taking you home early, and maybe grab a quick piece of cake. See you guys in the car!"

Honey waved goodbye before running back down the hall, leaving the room silent again.

He looked back to the brunette, his cousin was taking his sweet time to get back to that club room but he still had limited time to talk to her.

Now all he had to do was find the right words.

"Why did you do that to the twins?"

He blinked, processing the question for a minute. He didnt really know why he did it. It was the same feeling he had in the jungle that day when the cop grabbed her, the natural feeling of protective nature he was brought up with.

"Hm"

She nodded.

She wasnt going to get an answer her independence made her object to so there was no use trying to explain. She just knew not to pry.

He changed the subject, reluctantly resorting to small talk mixed with leaking concern.

"How are you feeling?"

She shrugged

"Honestly....it really hurts still..."

He felt the guilt burning at his chest. He knew it all could have been prevented. If he had been there to see the situation getting out of hand he wouldve helped her stubborn independence or not.

He left the only club member with some other sort of athority over Tamaki or the twins in charge when it was obvious he didnt care one way or another what happened outside of counting profits.

He left her in unreliable hands.

"I'm sorry"

She looked up to him, slightly surprised

"What? Why are you sorry? For my eye? it was the twins and Tamaki-Sempai who started all of this in the first place. You didnt have anythign to do with it. You have no reason to feel sorry"

She really didnt understand did she?

".......I should have been there...."

She gave him a weak smile, putting a hand on his arm.

"It wasnt your fault Sempai, things just got a bit out of hand and I shouldve handled it better myself. You didnt have an obligation to be there, you dont even have one to be here right now you know so..... I think I should be thanking you instead"

He slightly blushed, looking down to her hand on his arm.

She let go, hopping down from the table

"I'll try to be more careful around the guys if it'll help, but really theres nothing you need to feel obligated to appologize for. Okay?"

She handed him Usa-chan

"Sempai forgot this by the way, I need to thank him as well"

He walked her over to the door, waving to the nurse to signal their leave before opening the door for her as they stepped into the hallway.

Keeping his hand on her shoulder, they walked towards the front of the school to wait at the car for Honey. 

The limo ride back to the estate was silent, Haruhi had been encouraged to take a thirty minute nap during the hour drive to which she agreed to reluctantly of course. 

Mori watched her as she slept through that time, curled up on the seat across from him. 

The way she slept was reassuring. 

Her breathing was calm, despite having gone through hell that day. 

Honey had placed her ice pack into the limo's mini-fridge he normally reserved for cake, leaving her injury to rest while she slept. 

He looked back to her eye, it was long swollen over its self. Anger stabbed at him like pins. 

He knew it would be a while before he'd let the twins or Tamaki really go near her again. He could ask Satoshi to look after her if he needed to. At lunch he knew she ate in the classroom so she was safe there.

She'd be hosting beside him and Honey for a while, her guests wouldnt mind following her over to their table.

He didnt care if it was an accident or not, Tamaki was intent to hurt someone that day, it didnt matter who he was trying to hurt he was trying in the first place.

For selfish reasons, weither he wanted to admit it or not. 

He nor the twins were accustom to sharing, almost no one at Ouran really was. 

Some were only children, some had siblings but because they were from a life of privilage their parents never made them share what they could easily buy two or three of. 

Haruhi wasnt something they could share though, her un-divided attention wasnt something that could be bought. 

They were spoiled, living lives of leniency, he himself lived with privilage as well but their family didn't flaunt it like others did. 

He grew up learning lessons with his sibling and cousins, and he knew someone's attention could be shared if you were willing to. 

Then again, he felt calmer seeing her like this. 

She was resting, safe in this car where he could make sure she was safe. 

He smiled. 

"Hey Takashi?" 

He blinked, turning his attention to Honey

"Hm" 

"Haru-chan kept looking over at the door to the infurmary waiting for you to show up" 

Mori blushed, he looked at his cousin, slightly confused.

"Hm?" 

The blonde third year simply smiled, not saying another word about it while looking over to Haruhi.

"We should wake her, give her some time to wake up before we get home" 

"Mitsukuni-"

He hopped from his seat before Mori could stop him, running over to hug the sleeping hostess. 

"Wake up Haru-chan!" 

She immediately jolted awake, causing a small sigh of annoyance from Mori for his cousin's blatant attempt to avoid answering him. 

"We'll be there in thirty minutes but I wanna show you a cute puppy video I found on my phone! please?" 

She rubbed her eyes, sitting up with a small yawn. Her voice softer than it was when she was awake. 

Mori smiled, watching her as she adjusted to being awake again. 

She nodded to Honey, blinking her eyes to get used to the lighting in the car

"Uh sure Sempai...go ahead..." 

He sat down beside her, taking out his phone. 

She suddenly paused, momentarily confused as she looked for the pack the nurse had given her. 

"Uh guys? where'd my ice pack go? I thought I had it when I got into the car didnt I?" 

Honey pointed to his cousin

"Takashi put it in the mini-fridge to keep it frozen for when you woke up! Right Takashi?"

Haruhi looked to him, smiling

"Oh, thanks then Sempai" 

"Hm" 

He reached over to the mini-fridge, taking out the ice pack to hand back to her. 

Even though he wasnt the one who put it there in the first place. 

Why did Mitsukuni say he did it then?

"Mom! Aunt Mayu! We're home!" 

Honey ran into the kitchen as they walked into the house, running up to hug his mom who happily returned the gesture. 

"Welcome home! how was school?" 

"Great!" 

"Hm" 

"And you Haruhi?" 

Haruhi blinked

"Oh, it was...fine...."

Haruhi noticed the woman sitting at the table beside Honey's mom, drinking a glass of tea. She had long black hair that matched Takashi and his brother's.

She had the same tan skin and steel colored eyes they possessed as well. 

She looked at Haruhi, locking eyes with her for a moment before smiling. 

"Haruhi Fujioka I assume? We havent formally met yet have we?" 

Honey piped up

"Haru-chan, this is my aunt Mayu, Takashi and Satoshi's mom! Haruhi is our friend from the host club!" 

"A pleasure to meet you Haruhi" 

She held out a hand for her to shake, causing her to switch hands so she could hold the ice pack to her eye. 

"A pleasure to meet you as well" 

She paused for a moment, noticing the pack.

"Why do you have an ice pack dear?" 

Haruhi hesitantly uncovered her eye, causing both of the women to wince.

Honey's mother walked up, looking closer at the injury "Oh my...dear what happened? who did this to you?"

She grabbed the pack, taking it over to the fridge.

Haruhi hesitated with her answer "Oh, it's fine really I just...got in a bit of an incident durring host club is all. The guys got a bit rowdy and I got in the way. The nurse says it should all heal on it's own with time" 

Honey's mother brought over a new pack, gently pressing it to her eye

"Oh I understand, boys can get rough sometimes. We have lots of these packs in the fridge for situations just like this. I wasnt really expecting the boys in that club of yours to have you in one of their fights though, much less to hurt you like this. How did you get involved in a fight with those boys?" 

She smiled nervously. It was embarassing to say they were fighting over her like children with a toy but it was the truth. 

"Just another tug of war game gone a little wrong..." 

"They play tug of war with you?" Mayu asked. 

She looked over to her son

"Where were you and Mitsukuni when all of this happened?" 

"Hm" 

"Kyo-chan asked us to grab some extra plates, when we came back she was hurt" Honey explained

Honey and Mori's mothers looked at eachother. 

She raised an eyebrow 

"I thought you boys had Haruhi as an errand runner for the club? I'm sure if she had gone she wouldnt have gotten hurt" 

"Not exactly....the boys made me an official host but even before that they were just as handsy. It's fine though, it's just the way they are" 

Mori fought back the urge to sigh in annoyance.

He and his mother looked at eachother, silently exchanging the same thought. 

That shouldnt be the way it is for her.

She slightly narrowed her eyes, glancing quickly over to Haruhi and back to him

'Help her then'

She threw on her calm smile, still reluctant to agree with her

"Well if you think you can handle them by yourself I suppose it's alright..." 

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" Honey's mother sat back down besides Mayu, pointing towards the hallway.

"Practice today boys, go get ready and head to the student dojo, your fathers are waiting" 

"Kay mom!" 

Honey obliged and hugged his mother one last time before skipping off down the hall. 

Haruhi started towards the hallway leading towards her room

"I'll just head to my room to finish up some homework the-"

She froze when a hand was suddenly on her shoulder, stopping her in her tracks

"Hm"

She raised an eyebrow at the quiet third year, slightly confused.

"Practice. Come with us, learn something." 

Honey's mother perked up with an encouraging smile

"Oh what a great idea! you should go Haruhi, You may learn something useful! Every girl must have some sort of self defense" 

Haruhi hesitated 

"Oh um, I'm fine. I dont want to intrude or anything-" 

"Nonsense! they should be happy to have you! Takashi, take her to the dojo, help her get ready for a lesson okay?" 

"Hm" 

He nodded, leading the brunette down the hall. 

Mayu turned to her blonde counterpart

"She's a bit stubborn with her independence, but I still like her." 

Honey's mother nodded, taking a sip from her own glass

"Hai, our sons take good care of her though. She will be fine." 

When Mori and Haruhi were out of ear-shot, Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Why did you do that?" 

He stopped walking, staying silent for a moment. 

He looked down to her, gently placing a hand on her cheek beside her injured eye. 

"This cant happen again. Ever. That's all you need to know" 

He continued walking down the hall, leaving her there with a bright blush on her cheeks. 

She felt the place where he had his hand, a small smile forming on her lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it, updates are every three days for those wondering. Thank you for reading so far :)


	8. Smiles and martial arts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here's some more fluff cause Honey's in this story so theres no avoiding it :)

"How do I look?" 

Mori examined Haruhi in the borrowed dojo cloths. Not many girls trained in the classes his father and Honey's taught so finding ones built for her frail and small figure was slightly diffifuclt. Honey's was specially made for his small stature so there werent more similar to it that were only slightly bigger for her. 

Despite the sleeves almost hanging over her hands as they rested at her sides, and having to use and the belt having to be wrapped around her waist twice before it was tight enough to hold everything together. 

He blushed. 

She looked....'cute' if you could use that word to describe what he saw in front of him. 

He decided to go with a simple "Hm" before opening the door for her to step into the dojo. 

Haruhi noticed two main things as she stepped into the room. 

One: Honey kicking his brothers ass with almost zero difficulty.

Two: Satoshi standing on the sidelines practicing drills by himself. 

As soon as the match was over between them, which didnt take very long to end anyways, the loli boy immediately noticed Haruhi and his cousin in the doorway. 

"Haru-chan!" 

He skipped over to them, eyes wide at the hostess. 

"Your in dojo cloths! you look great!" 

Haruhi gave him a tired smile

"Thanks Sempai" 

"What are you doing here? you wanna train with us today?" 

Mori nodded, answering for her. She didnt want to 

She had to.

She had to know something if anything at all, just enough for her to stay safe. That's all he asked for, wither he was keeping her safe or she prefered to keep herself safe. 

She had to.

"She's learning self defense" 

The small blonde smiled exitedly, grabbing her hands to pull her along with him.

"Yay! Haru-chan is gonna learn Judo!" 

He pulled her over to an older looking man who was talking to Yasuchika. He brought her over, turning their attention to her immediately after seeing her eye. 

"Father? can my friend Haru-chan train with me and Chika-chan today?" 

Yasuchika examined her eye with a small hint of curiosity

"Who managed to do that to you? I thought that shameful club was full of idiots who practically worship the ground you walk on" 

"Yasuchika" the man warned 

He looked to his older son

"This is your friend who's staying here, Haruhi Fujioka is it?" he asked, turning his attention to her. 

She nodded

He paused "You know it will be difficult to learn with the use of only one eye, are you sure you still wish to train with my sons in this condition?" 

Haruhi didnt know what else to do besides nod. She was already in the cloths, Honey was exited about the idea, and besides. 

Mori was the one who suggested it. 

He suggested it before and if she didnt do this, and got hurt again, he'd just ask her again. 

He wasnt forcing her to do anything, he wanted her to do this because it would benefit her safety.

Thats why she agreed, he wasnt forcing her to do anything and wouldnt have been angry with her if she declined. 

Honey's father nodded 

"If you wish to challenge yourself. Yasuchika, get her started on some beginner drills and go from there. Mitsukuni, Takashi, I need to talk to you both in private."

"Yes father" they said in sync, slightly surprising Haruhi with the gesture that she'd normally see from the twins. 

They quickly bowed to their father before Honey waved goodbye, skipping beside Mori as they walked away.

She looked back to Mori, noticing a small smile when he looked right back. 

"You arent working hard enough if you arent sweating! twenty more push up's!" 

Haruhi's arms shook violently, Yasuchika was making her do yet another set of push-ups after the eighty she had already done by now along with numerous other excersises. 

'this is beginner level?!' she thought, trying to distract herself while pushing through the raging pain. 

It was obvious the middle schooler had a major inferiority complex, she wondered how the rest of the Karate club dealt with him at school. 

"Those push-up's dont count until I hear you counting them!" He put his foot on her back, kicking her back down. 

"One..." 

"I cant hear you!" he shouted, shoving her to the floor again

She panted for air again, forcing herself to push herself up into a plank again

"One!" She forced herself to almost yell in frustration. 

She had done P.E classes in middle school, the teacher she had was an ex-sailor in the navy. She forced the girls to do her version of the military exercises they had. 

Everyone hated that teacher by the end of the year. 

'why does this feel familiar?' she thought sarcastically, continuing the drill. 

He pressed her down to the floor again

"Start aga-" 

"No" 

Haruhi looked up, Mori stood above both of them, eyes directly on his cousin. 

He lightly pushed him away from the brunette, lifting her off the floor. She blushed slightly when his hands brushed with hers. 

"Her hands are shaking Yasuchika, she's done enough drills" 

"Those are the same drills we were given as beginners! I was told to train her with the beginner drills and that's what I'm doing. Going soft on her wont do her any good in the end, you should know that better than anyone" 

Mori shrugged 

"I'm here. She can train with me instead. You are dismissed." 

Without saying another word he brought her over to Honey and Satoshi, setting her down on her feet again. 

"Sorry about him" He said "Yasuchika forgets his position sometimes, abuses power when given" 

"it's fine...my wrists are just a bit sore..."

They stayed quiet for a moment before he moved, gently grabbing her shaking hands in his. 

'What am I doing....?' 

He lightly ran his thumbs over her knuckles, serving her a relaxed sense of calm. Her hands went limp in his, causing the exhausted shaking to stop soon enough. 

"Calm" he muttered quietly, feeling over her delicate hands one last time.

He let go of them, slightly reluctant to do so. Both their faces slightly flushed at the sudden move he had made. 

"Um...thanks...that actually felt better...." 

"Hm" 

They didnt say anything, turning their attention to Honey 

"I'm sorry I honestly didnt know the differences between Judo and Kendo" Haruhi slightly laughed as Mori walked beside her down the hall towards her room. 

He had offered to walk her to her room after the practice. 

He smiled at her, she had made the mistake of asking Mitsukuni what the difference was between the two, prompting a two hour explaination.

It was Eight at night now, neither of them really minded though. 

"Lot's of people confuse the two. Kendo uses physical ability and weaponry. Judo is more similar to Karate, mostly physical skill is used" 

"Well...thanks for teaching me a bit about both....you and Honey are good friends...." 

Mori blushed, smiling while tustling Haruhi's short hair. 

"Your safety is thanks enough" 

Okay so maybe he was a little tired

Haruhi smiled, blushing as well as his fingers laced through her hair. 

They both paused for a moment, not saying anything as they continued looking at eachother, approaching her bedroom door.

Comfortable silence. 

It was peaceful to say the least.

Both their eyes slightly widened when Haruhi's phone started ringing from her back pocket, breaking it. 

She took it out, not even reading the caller ID as she opened the door.

"Oh, sorry I'm getting a call.... See you later Sempai..."

"Hm" he nodded, turning to leave with a small wave. 

She waved back, shutting the door behind her.

"I hurt my precious daughter! I'm a horrible parent!"

Tamaki was curled up in the corner of the room growing depression shrooms while bawling his eyes out.

Kyouya didnt look up from his work the entire time, fighting the urge to go over and slap him. 

"The maids complained about the mushrooms Tamaki, now will you quit growing them and do your work?"

"I'm a bad daddy! I dont deserve a child!"

Kyouya growled under his breath, shutting his book. 

"God dammit....Tamaki if I message Haruhi and make sure she isnt angry, will you stop being such a moron?"

In a moments notice Tamaki was sat beside Kyouya on the floor like a loyal dog to it's master when they offered to go on a walk. 

"Yes yes yes! thank you!" He wrapped the raven haired boy in a tight hug as he took out his phone with a tired sigh.

He quickly dialed her number, putting the phone up to his ear.

After a few rings there was a click on the other line

"Sempai?"

"Hello Haruhi, sorry for the intrusion but I'd like to discuss today's incident if thats alright?"

He heard a small annoyed huff, smiling slightly.

Her annoyance had alwase been something he thrived with. To a certain point her annoyance with him was more entertaining than concerning. It was their subtle way of fighting, but play fighting to be clear. 

"Sure, let me guess, this is because of Tamaki-sempai?"

"Depends, how many mushroom-sprouting idiots are you friends with?"

She giggled, causing his chest to flutter slightly.

"Anyways, think instead of this call as a simple welfare check. You'll be able to attend Host club tomorrow wont you? Your absence upset many of your clients. Some even left you get well gifts"

"Sure I should be fine enough to Host. I have to pay off that debt somehow right?"

Kyouya frowned. He quickly thought of a way to keep her in check.

"Speaking of which, those damaged serving saucers today added another hundred thousand yen to your debt"

"What?! but I didnt even dr-"

"Now now, dont try to get out of your obligations. You need to take responsibility for your mistakes Haruhi"

Tamaki gave him a questioning look to which he replied by holding up his hand to keep him quiet.

Haruhi sighed on the other end of the line

"Fine...whatever...."

"Anyways, I just wanted to clear things up between you and Tamaki if you will, please explain that you arent angry at him?"

He reluctantly handed his phone to the blonde

He quickly snatched it like a starving animal with a scrap of food

"HARUHI! DADDY'S SO SO SORRY HE HURT YOU! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

"It's fine for the last time Sempai I'm not mad"

"Are you still daddy's little girl? Please dont abandon our family! Daddy's so sorry!"

Kyouya reached for his phone again much to Tamaki's distain.

"But I wanna talk to her!" he pouted

"You heard her, she's not angry you idiot"

He put a hand on his friends forehead to shove him away before he could grab for the phone again.

"That will be all for tonight, thank you for clearing things up. Have a good night Haruhi, sleep well"

He hung up, turning to the blonde

"See? she's not angry, now can you please focus on your work?"

He raised an eyebrow at his friend, slightly confused

"Why did you raise her debt? Mori and Honey-Sempai were the ones who dropped the plates..."

If he were being honest, saying that in truth he wanted to keep her in the club just as much as everyone else did, it would surely cause his friend to get angry with him. It was like dealing with an unstable child sometimes.

He turned it onto Tamaki

"Well would you rather she pay off her debt as easily as she currently is and leave the club altogether?"

Tamaki's eyes widened at the idea, if she were to leave he knew the twins would be the only ones around her at school when she wasnt eating in the classroom, and Honey and Mori would be around her at their shared estate for a while.

Of course He himself had connections with Ranka so he could visit her as he pleased.

Her being in the club was the only hope Tamaki ever had of seeing the brunette hostess.

"Nevermind! Mommy's a genius! add another thousand as long as our precious daughter doesn't leave the club!" 

Kyouya rolled his eyes, staring back at his homework. 

'Dammit...'

Kyouya guessed he had been staring at the ceiling above his bed for the past twenty minutes or so.

He looked over at his phone in silence, contemplating the thought for a bit. 

It wasnt too late, he normally went to bed at Nine if he was lucky enough to get some sleep which he happened to be tonight. It was now Ten. He couldnt fall asleep as easily as he normally would when given the chance.

'I swear to God if that girl costs me another nights sleep I'm making sure she never re-pays her debt' 

He knew she'd mostly likely still be awake. She barely slept on school nights lately, dedicating most of her free time towards keeping her place at the top of her class. 

He wouldn't admit it out loud but he secretly admired her determination 

She reminded him of himself, but he found that the ways they were different were much more attractive. 

She had more freedom than he could ever dream of having. 

Her life wasnt set in stone from the day she was born

She signified opposition, a small light in his bland routine. 

Every little smile

Every flustered blush when he'd 'accidentally' rest his hand on her shoulder. 

Every aspect of her, inside and out was something he couldnt help but crave since he met her. 

He thought about what was keeping him back, cursing the idea to question himself when it was an obvious decision. 

Tamaki was the only thing keeping him from persuing her, and for a long time he thought his friend would finally take the chance he was handing him. 

He concluded after so long that it was never going to happen 

His delusional father daughter act wouldnt end. 

He didnt feel so much bad for the blonde as he felt relieved. 

After what had happened today he knew a small part of him was angry with the Suoh heir, he found himself praying that day when Mori had pinned him that he would have given him much more than a scare. 

He wanted to persue her, persue a part of his life that wouldnt be under his family's control.

He wanted Haruhi to be his.

With that final confirmation, he scrolled down his contact list, finding Haruhi's name. 

He quickly thought of a simple excuse to bring her over, knowing his bedroom was the only privacy from anyone he ever got. Even Tamaki needed permission to be there. 

He typed a small message into the box before setting his phone down on the stand again, turning over to try to fall asleep. 

Haruhi delicately dabbed at her eye with a towel after cleaning it up, she went to shut off the light before walking out of the bathroom when a small 'ping' was heard from her phone.

She walked over, curiously picking up her phone. She went to her messages, seeing a new one popped up on her screen.

Haruhi read the message. 

From: Kyouya Sempai

Recieved: 10:05 PM

-Are you free to study here tommorow night?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just for clearence, no hate on Chika, Yasuchika is a phsyco but I still love the dramatic doofus.
> 
> Hope ya'll liked this chapter :)


	9. Study 'date'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In this, Haruhi didn't walk into Kyouya's room at the beach that night so she really doesn't expect what he does.

"Are you out of your mind?!" 

"Do you have a death wish or something?!" 

Haruhi rolled her eyes at the twins, packing up the rest of her things for the day. 

"Guys I'm just going over to study why is it such a big deal?" 

Hikaru frowned 

"Um?! it's the shadow king! it's Kyouya! what if he's trying to kill you?! Last time we went over to wake him up he nearly ripped out heads off!" 

"Dont piss him off! Rumor has it when he kill's you, he writes in his notebook with your blood as ink! Just dont go at all!" Kouru added

She walked over to the doors to the club room beside Kyouya

"Your both being ridiculous" 

"Ready to go?" He asked, opening the door for her.

She nodded, walking down the hall and out of sight before the twins could object anymore. 

"Have a nice mother daughter study day you two!" 

the twins turned their heads to Tamaki, shock instantly painted their faces 

"What the hell boss?!" 

"Yeah! your not concerned for her?! isnt she your 'precious daughter'?!" 

Tamaki smiled confidently, walking towards the door to leave himself

"I trust Kyouya a LOT more than I'd trust perverts like you with my little angel! It's Mommy we're talking about! She will be just fine!" 

"I almost forgot what this place looked like Sempai, It looks more like a buisness than a house from the outside.." 

Haruhi waved back at the limo that would wait for her to leave after today, her eyes wandered over the outside of the mansion in front of her, giving off a sense of empty blandness. 

Kyouya led her towards the door, taking out his key. 

"It's a progressive design. My father didn't care to keep my mother's designs "

"So it didnt alwase look like this?" 

He shook his head, walking with her through the door. His mother left his life early, only staying around until he was seven years old before she was gone. After she was gone his father swept away almost anything that held her memory. 

He managed to swipe a few photo's of her before his father could find them, splitting them amongst himself and his siblings. 

His sister even managed to hide her wedding dress in her closest before he could get rid of it along with her other cloths. 

They walked through the halls in silence, leaving Haruhi to glance around. 

"Hey Sempai? why did you choose to study with me instead of Tamaki-Sempai?" she asked, trying to break the silence. 

He shrugged 

"Our motives are similar you know. I never get work down around Tamaki because he's easily distracted and childish when he doesnt want to work. However I dont see you studying with the twins despite having the same work and tests they do" 

Haruhi rolled her eyes 

"I studied with them once, they interupted the lesson to make me model their mother's new line of tube tops. A handkerchief sized cloth tied with two strings behind my back ISN'T a shirt! They didnt get anything done" 

"I chose you because your focus is unfazed when tried against simple distractions such as calling your 'child'" 

They approached his bedroom door, walking in together

"He's never going to give that-Uh....is today a laundry day Sempai?"

"What?" 

Kyouya turned his attention to his room, his expression changing immediately. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose

"Oh good lord why today?" 

"Welcome home little brother! How was school today?" 

Kyouya sighed at the once clean room, now left in disarray while he was gone. Half his cloths strewn around the room, his drawers nearly all pulled out of the dressers. He turned his attention to the familiar raven haired woman rummaging through his shirt drawer. 

"Sis, what did I tell you about leaving my room alone while I'm away? You couldnt have picked a more unreasonable time to invade my room by the way" 

She turned around, eyes landing instantly on Haruhi. 

"Fujioka Haruhi! hello dear! how are you?" she asked, ignoring her brother's complaint. 

She smiled, trying not to crack up at the annoyance painting Kyouya's expression

"I'm doing well, how are you?" 

"Well if anyone else were to try and help him arrange his room I'm sure the 'shadow king' as you call him would kill them" 

"What did I say about that nickname? Tamaki chose it but I hardly consent. I dont want it brought home as well" 

"But it's so cute though Kyouya!" she teased

Kyouya's eyes flared in embarrassed rage. Being called cute alwase associated being thought of as a joke to him. Especially from his older siblings.

"Fuyumi I swear-" 

Haruhi let a small laugh slip, much to his annoyance 

He sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose

"Haruhi and I are studying tonight, will you please leave us alone?" 

Fuyumi glanced over to the brunette with a sweet smile before walking past them as she left the room.

"Dont let him keep you up now dear, you make sure to take a study break" 

"Goodbye Fuyumi" Kyouya shut the door behind her passive aggressively, hearing a small giggle from the other side of the door as she left. 

"She's nice" Haruhi smiled "Dont me mean" 

He set down his bag, reaching for the buttons on his school blazer while walking across his room. "You have no idea Haruhi" 

He headed towards the washroom, hanging his blazer over the back of the couch as he walked by "I'm going to clean up and get situated, you can set your bag down by the couch and relax for a bit if you want"

"Okay" 

A few minutes passed in silence, Haruhi examined each part of his room, questioning a few things. 

She was slightly surprised when she found scented candles placed around the room, a lot at that. 

His bedroom was bigger than her entire appartment. 

'Oh just for this I'm teasing the hell out of that smug bastard for the candles' she thought, slightly laughing. 

As if on cue the raven haired second year walked out of the washroom, drying his hair with a towel. A new pair of loose jeans hung on his waist, his eyes scanned the cloths lines above him for a top.

"What's so funny?" He asked, looking at her.

She smirked.

"The all mighty shadow king likes lavender scented candles?" 

He chuckled, candles was something his sister insisted he have in his room for as long as he could remember since. 

"and what do you find so strange about that?" he tested.

"I guess I just didn't expect you to like candles, I figured it would be more of a Tamaki-Sempai thing."

"Fuyumi bought them, she says they remind her of mother and ran out of space in the places her husband would allow her to place them in her own home."

Haruhi smiled at the thought

"She's a very caring sister isn't she?" 

"I suppose, although I wish she'd respect my privacy a bit more" his smile dropped.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, giving him an annoyed expression 

"So it runs in your family then? You know my dad on a first name basis and visit on regular occasions to get private pictures of me to sell. You have your own key at this point. I think your the last person who should complain about privacy Sempai. Now put on a shirt"

He noticed his current state, slightly surprised she acknowledged it without being uncomfortable about it. He couldnt remember a time she would have seen him like that. 

"Oh, sorry. Must be uncomfortable" He half asked, he wasnt sure but it was a guess.

"No, not uncomfortable, just seems like it's cold to stay like that. By the way, it isn't like I haven't seen most of the club shirtless already. Hikaru and Kouru barely keep theirs on at school if they don't have to so I've gotten used to it" she explained, with a half smile.

"Really now? is that how desensitized we've made you?" he joked, ripping one of the shirts from where it was hanging from a line running across his room.

"Well I don't think you shirtless is much different from the twins or Tamaki-Sempai is it? No offense but you guys are all either really pale, thin, or both. " She laughed causing a slight smile to his face.

He slipped the simple T-shirt over himself, walking over to sit down beside her.

"I'm sure this is a conversation the ladies have had about everyone in the club once or twice before. The difference is you actually know the answer."

She rolled her eyes

"Lucky me"

"I'm sure they would think so" 

She pulled out her books from her school bag.

"Let's just get to studying before I vomit at the thought" 

He smirked, teasing her one last time

"Hikaru and Kouru already photo-shopped that image into their minds remember?" 

"Will you stop?!" 

Three hours of silence passed between the two's study session, occasionally ideas and material help bounced between them. 

It was getting dark outside and she would go home in the next hour or so. Kyouya broke the silence between them, taking out his phone. He decided to put his plans in motion. 

He didnt look up to Haruhi while texting while he talked to her. 

"How about a study break? are you feeling hungry at all?" 

She shut her book with an eager smile. His heart slightly fluttered, her smile was almost like a child's when getting a present on their birthday. 

"I think you know the answer to that by now Sempai" 

He chuckled.

"Yes, I'll take that as a yes. Thats why-"

He didnt look up, pointing to the door. A second later, there was a knock.

He set his phone down, walking over to answer it. 

He watched her expression change from confusion to exitement when he took the freshly made tray of Sushi from his servant. 

"Fancy tuna!" She cheered, watching the tray travle over to the table. 

He set it down, handing her a pair of chopsticks. 

"I had the chef's prepare it for you, caught fresh this morning and prepared extra just in case you wish to take some leftovers. Think of it as a gesture of good faith" 

She raised an eyebrow, giggling as she picked up a piece with the chopsticks.

She looked up to him, picking up a piece and dipping it in the soy sauce. "Okay what's going on today? You? being nice? is this poisoned or something?" she joked. 

He chuckled, picking up a piece as well.

"I know I could have prevented your injury during club activities and since your father leaves me to care for your well being at Ouran, I have failed. I apologize." 

Haruhi took a bite, smiling to herself as the food met her pallet.

"Mm, oh that's good! Apology definantly accepted!" she happily went for another piece, bringing a satisfied grin to the older boy's face. 

"Thank you Haruhi, happy to hear it" 

He watched her enjoy the food, contemplating his next move as he ate. 

Soon enough, she finished her portion, prompting him to move on. 

"Is there a certain type of music you like? I can put some on for background music if you want"

She looked up again, slight surprise painted her face. 

"Um, classical....thanks" She smiled. 

He scrolled through his phone, connecting the bluetooth speakers to his collection of music, which included almost completely classical composers before pressing play.

Soft music played around the room, bringing a nervous smile to the brunette's face. 

"Thanks...." 

He raised an eyebrow at her 

"Is something wrong?" 

She rubbed the back of her neck questioningly, reluctant to ask. 

"Your being really nice, and dont get me wrong I appreciate it. Why though? It doesnt seem like 'shadow king' behavior" 

He clasped his hands together, smiling as he straightened his glasses.

"I wanted to do something nice for you Haruhi, I suppose you expect a money related motive? You've had a difficult week and I wanted to give you a break. I'm not completely heartless you know" He confessed, turning completely to face her.

Her free eye was slightly wide. She smiled. 

"Wow...thanks Sempai, I didnt know you cared that much..."

There was a small second of silence between them. 

He sighed to himself with a smile. Her smile urged him to continue with his plan, keeping his eyes fixed on her oblivious expression. 

"Well, that....and there is something else I need to talk to you about as well before you leave tonight"

Kyouya reached for the dimmer remote on the end of the table, pointing it at the panel on the wall. 

The lights in the room were suddenly turned almost all the way down, the candles in the room gave it a calming glow.

She raised an eyebrow, a small sense that something was wrong came to mind as he sat back down beside her.

"Why did you turn down the lights....?" 

He didnt answer for a moment, instead taking off his glasses and setting them down. He turned to face her, lightly placing a hand on her hip.

"Haruhi? tell me something will you?" 

He leaned in close, moving his hand slowly up her back. 

He didnt let himself think about being nervous, he let his instinct take over, letting it do what he wanted. 

She froze, panic began flooding her brain. She instinctively clenched her fingers into fists. 

"Sempai...?" 

His other hand snaked it's self around her back, the other moved under her chin to pull her face only inches away from his as he set her back on the couch. 

"You cant possibly think I invited you over tonight JUST to study can you?" 

"Sempai what are you doing...?"

She tried to back away but his hand was on her wrist, he had her pinned. 

"You know this isnt the first time I've wanted to do this" He mindlessly admitted

"you've tempted me a lot on other occasions, I've got you exactly where I need you now"

"What are you d-mph!"

Her heart dropped and began pounding in her chest when he closed the gap between them, putting a hand on her cheek. 

'WHAT THE HELL?!' 

She quickly put a hand on his chest, trying shoving him back. 

Her fight or flight kicked in when it didnt work, causing her reflexes to move on their own for her.

She suddenly swung her knee up and into his side and just below his rib cage as hard as she could, successfully getting him to let her go.

Liver shot

Thank you Honey-Sempai

Her heart was racing, adrenalin she didnt ask for pulsed through her veins. 

Did he just kiss her?!

Why would he do something so assuming and controlling?!

"What is wrong with you?!" was all she could get out before she shot up from the couch, carelessly leaving her belongings behind as she ran from the room. 

Her thoughts raced as she ran down the stairs, servants along the way were quickly ignored as she ran past them and out the front doors to the still waiting limo, quickly getting in. 

She slammed the door, panting for air as the car started up. 

She stared into the darkness straight at the floor, her thoughts scrambled in a panicked mess. 

She gripped the seat tightly, digging her fingers into the leather. 

Hot tears burned at her eyes, stinging as they ran down her cheek. 

The sky was completely dark when she finally arrived back at the Haninozuka estate, the car pulling to a stop. 

She tried to wipe her tears away, frustrated when they kept flooding her eyes. 

She didnt want anyone to see her like this. 

She rushed towards the front doors. 

They thankfully weren't locked, the privacy of the estate giving the family peace of mind enough to keep them unlocked. 

She rushed in, quietly shutting the door before taking off her shoes at the door. 

She speed walked through the hall, praying no one would see her.

"Hey Haruhi!" 

Dammit

Satoshi gave her a friendly wave from the kitchen table. 

She gave a quick wave back before rushing past the kitchen as fast as she could, panting as she continued trying to hide the tears running down from her already hurt eye. 

She didnt hear anything except her heart racing in her chest. 

"Haruhi? Hey wait!" Satoshi yelled after her, quickly noticing something was wrong.

"Haru-chan!" Honey's voice yelled, his eyes following her as she ducked around the corner and sprinted down the dark hallway to her room. 

Honey sat at the table beside his cousins, a new sense of worry now on his face. 

"Haru-chan....?" He asked, staring towards the hall in slight disbelief.

Why did she ignore them? Why was she in a rush to avoid them?

Honey looked up to Mori who's face remained neutral, staring ahead as well. 

"Takashi?" 

He got up from the table, following her with quick paced steps. 

He was more worried than any of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know first hand that liver-shots hurt like HELL! If you wanna stop someone or just be an asshole and punch them in the liver in the middle of class cause your bored *ahem my sister* Then they'll be definantly incapacitated for a bit :)


	10. Comforting words

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happened that night when Haruhi actually walked into Mori's room instead?

"Guys please let go of me...." 

Haruhi's stomach felt like it was doing cartwheels, the bile mixed with the nights seafood threatened to retreat from her throat. 

"So you can go apologize to the boss?" Kouru asked. 

She felt herself gag, throwing a quick hand over her mouth

"ugh....no....let go of me before I throw up on you g-Mph!" 

She added her other hand, tightly gripped her lips together. 

They group of boys started to panic, quickly trying to move her down the hall as fast as they could. 

"Crap um! who's bathroom is the closest?!" Hikaru asked, placing his hands over hers as they rushed down the dark hall.

"Hm" 

Mori pointed to his door across the hall, taking the girl from the panicked twins. 

"Well dont delay! Get her to the damn bathroom!" The auburn-haired twins shoved her lightly, causing her to gag more violently. 

Mori's eyes narrowed, making them realize what they had done.

He ushered the girl into his room, shutting the door behind him. 

He carefully rushed her to the washroom, opening the door so she could run in for herself. 

She fell to her knees before he could shut the door behind them, emptying her stomach into the bowl. 

He watched her small body shake violently, the hand she had on the floor to support her was gripping the tile for what seemed like dear life. 

He quietly shut the washroom door, sitting down on the floor beside her. 

He remembered back to one of the times Mitsukuni had tried to eat a 'manly' diet. Later that night he was on the floor in the loli boy's washroom at Two AM, taking care of the sick boy. Seeing as mashed potatoes was the closest thing he could find to the consistency of cake frosting that night, he downed ten servings. 

Small body, smaller stomach he guessed. 

Same problem with Haruhi.

Call it protective instinct. 

Now here he was again.

He put a hand on her back, trying to sooth her aching body. 

He winced at every groan of pain, wishing for it to end. 

When she finally stopped he carefully lifted her off the floor, setting her on the edge of the bathtub.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach, watching as he reached back for a wash cloth, quickly soaking it in the cold water that ran from the sink. 

He put a hand under her chin as she had seen him do to Honey many times before for the sake of 'Moe' 

"hold still" 

She gulped, her face flushing slightly as she began to focus again. 

He gently wiped away anything left she could have had on her face, lightly running the cold water around her puffy eyes. 

"Haruhi" 

Her eyes swelled when he suddenly put a hand on top of her's, his eyes darted up to her's, a stern expression painted his face. 

"There's something I need you to do" 

She stared back, afraid to look away as much as she wanted to. 

"Okay..." 

"You need to learn a way to protect yourself for real. Weither you carry pepper spray or you learn self defense you need it. If a female wolf and a male wolf fight, the male wolf is grown biologically stronger. I hope it never has to come to that levle of cowardess someone may have, to where they wont feel shame in hurting you. I respect you for going to rescue those girls, act or not though, you handled the situation wrong" 

He squeezed her hand

"Your word. I need your word you will try." 

She nodded, not thinking before squeezing back. 

"I promise" 

"Hm. Thank you." 

He reluctantly let go of her hand, putting the cloth on the edge of the sink.

"You can apologize to Tamaki in the morning. After this you should get settled and go to sl-" 

BOOM

Mori's eyes widened as the sudden clap of thunder outside echoed through his ears.

"Ah!"

Instinct triggered. Protect. 

Before she could think about it, she was pulled forward and deep into Mori's chest. His arms quickly wrapped around her small frame, hugging her tightly as they both crashed down to their knees.

He felt her tears begin to already seep through his shirt, small whimpers of fear from such a normally independent person.

It was enough to make him powerless.

It stabbed him like a burning knife to his chest.

He had to make her stop.

"Haruhi...."

He gently rubbed her back trying to calm her shaking. It only made things worse when the storm outside only seemed to get louder and louder.

"Haruhi....your okay.....I wont let anything hurt you.......I need you to stop crying......please....." 

He wrapped a hand through her hair, hugging her closer. He crossed his hands over her ears, holding over them as best as he could. 

It felt like hours before the storm outside sounded like it moved past them. He took it as a good sign when her breathing began to slow to normal, her small figure stopped shaking gradually as she relaxed. 

He let a relieved smile make it's way to his lips, resting his forehead on top of her head. 

He didnt know how long they stayed like that, the last thing he remembered though was shutting his eyes before the sun shining through the window woke them up the next morning. 

"Haruhi"

Mori lightly tapped at her door, hesitant to do it again.

Her panicked expression was etched into his mind, burning into his chest.

What happened to her that could have caused it? 

He remembered seeing her earlier before everyone went home, waving goodbye to her one last time as he and Mitsukuni left the room. Kyouya was taking her over to study and he didnt bat an eye. 

Guilt stung at his thoughts, he couldnt help but think he should have been more concerned. 

She still didnt reply, with words anyways. 

Her reply wasn't intentional but it told him exactly what he didnt want to know. 

She was crying. 

He narrowed his eyes in worry, his eyebrows furrowed. He'd only ever seen her cry twice but the sound still pierced his chest like a knife the same way it did before. 

"Haruhi....please stop crying......" He muttered, barely above whispering it. He knew she didnt hear him, frankly he didnt think he cared. 

He wanted to wrap an arm around her like he did that night at the beach

He wanted to tell her she was okay.

He sat down next to the door, resorting to trying to talk to her instead of trying to get her to come out. 

"Haruhi. If you can hear this. I promise you your safe right now. Whatever happened I promise you'll be okay. Please-" 

His eyes widened when the door in front of him creaked an inch open. 

"Sempai....?" 

She looked at him, her non-injured eye was clearly red and irritated from crying. 

"Hm" He confirmed. 

She opened the door all the way, staring at the floor in silence. 

Was she angry? 

Was she sad?

scared? 

She felt a strong sense of everything mixing it's self in her mind. 

She was definantly pissed at Kyouya-Sempai

She was sad that she didnt really have any friends that werent making her life more of a living hell in the past week than her dad had done when he told her why he was leaving. 

Lastly she felt scared. 

On it's own feeling as scared as she was wasnt something she let happen often if she could control it. 

Thunderstorms made her go into instinctive control so she had no senses. 

Now though, she was conscious, she felt every part of it. 

She was scared that she was in a strange place

She was scared she wasnt home with her father

She was scared of being alone. 

She normally hid her fears, bottling them up where her dad or anyone else could find them. 

This time though

This time she was too tired to bother

Even though she was positive she'd be fine tommorow, right now she decided to let herself be scared.

"Sempai.....I'm......I'm really scared......." It was almost a whisper but she knew he could hear her.

She felt tears start to well up in her eyes again, she dug her fingernails into her palms, lowering her head to try and hide her tears under her bangs.

"I hate it......I hate all of this........I hate that my dad is miserable and miles from home.......I hate this black eye.......I hate.....I.....I hate the host club...I hate it so.....so damn much...." 

The small whimper's of her crying sent a chill up Mori's spine. He knew for a long time she hated the club, and with everything she dealt with it was understandable. 

"I know" 

Her breath hitched again and again, a lump in her throat growing. 

He moved in front of her, reaching out his hands in front of her's. He didnt grab them, waiting to see if she needed comforting. 

In truth he wanted to hug her close when she ran off crying, but that would bring inevitable shame to his lessons in self control and restraint. 

He felt his heart bolt through his chest when the frail girl grabbed his hands, pulling herself closer to him. 

Was this her way of ASKING for a hug instead of just getting one?

He replied hesitantly, making sure to carefully wrap his arms around her. 

She burrowed her head into his chest, mindlessly letting her eyes drain tears. 

"I'm so sorry Sempai......I'm sorry I hate the host club.......I'm so sorry...." 

He mumbled

"Dont be" 

She didnt look up, going quiet to let him explain the slightly surprising answer. 

"The twins behavior around you is unacceptable of them, they, along with Tamaki are expected to behave much more respectfully to their peers. I know what you go through from them because of Kyouya's insistence on repaying your debt. You arent a toy though Haruhi. You are independent of anyone, strong and intelligent. You need to remember that. You dont need to apologize for disliking the club, they have given you a lot of good reasons." 

He ran a hand soothingly along her back as he spoke. 

"I dont need to know what happened tonight to cause this, but I know you dont have to go to the club meeting tomorrow." 

Haruhi's crying paused for a moment. 

"Sempai...?" 

He looked straight ahead, staring at the floor as he spoke

"Take a break, Haruhi. Take a rest from club activities and I'll pay the share of whatever money you would have earned for the day." 

He hesitantly put a hand under her chin, gently moving her eyes up to meet his. 

She paused for a moment. 

Was he being serious? 

She smiled, bringing the palm of her hand to wipe away her tears. 

"That's definantly not happening, your not paying for anything Sempai. Cause speaking honestly, even though I wanna beat the living hell out of those jerks for making this....one of the most God awful weeks of my life.....I still have a debt to pay back."

"Hm" 

He nodded, smiling. 

The same independence he knew and respected was back. 

He offered his hand, pulling her off the ground. 

"Thanks for that Sempai...." 

She lightly squeezed his hand, both of them standing in silence for a minute or two. 

She mindlessly intertwined their fingers, causing Mori to blush. 

"I think I should go apologize to Satoshi and Honey-Sempai for running past like that huh?" 

"Hm" he replied, opening the door for her. 

Knowing them, they honestly wouldn't need an apology. 

If it let him hold her hand a little longer though he was more than fine with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Valentines day Fox Fans! love to all of you :)


	11. Stuffed animals

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mori goes to set things straight with Kyouya

"What did you do to her" 

Kyouya stared down at the screen of his phone for a moment. 

He had forgotten he had Mori's number in his contacts at all, he never called as much as anyone else did so this surprised him. 

He never even texted as much as the others. 

"Hello Mori-Sempai, not sleeping well I see. It's one in the morning you do realize that correct?" He tried to change the subject. 

"What did you do to her" He repeated, dodging the change. 

"I hardly see how thats any concern of yours" 

"Fine. Then She'll be taking the next few days off from club activities. I'll pay the tab for any customers she may have." 

Kyouya paused. 

It was silently dreaded and expected that one day one of them would make that offer, or even more so, pay off the rest of her debt completely. 

He never expected Mori to be the selfish one, to take the opportunity. 

He raised an eyebrow

"Why do you want to know? How are you certain I've done something to her?" 

There was a moment of silence between them. 

"She went to your home to study tonight didnt she? She didnt come back with her school bag and she was upset. Do you have her bags still?" 

Kyouya stared down at her backpack

"Depends. Why are you asking me these questions" 

"Sop avoiding the answer Kyouya" 

He paused, pushing his glasses up his nose. 

"I simply claimed an opportunity that was going to waste. If she's smart I know she wont bring it up. Not unless she wants to cause trouble for the host club and herself that is" 

Mori's eyes narrowed. 

Kyouya was talking as if she was more of an object than a person to him. What did he mean by 'claim'? He was threatening her, holding something over her head. 

"Dont say 'claim' again unless you want to cause problems for yourself and dont make threats to me or her. I'm telling you now, you're crossing a line you cant go back over. I will be over there soon, I will get her things, and you and I will talk. You will apologize to her, leave her alone and she will take a break from club activities paid in full until she is ready to host again. This isnt a discussion. Goodbye." 

CLICK

Mori paused before letting out a small 'Hm', slipping his phone back into his pocket. 

He looked around the corner into the living room where Mitsukuni was cuddled up beside Haruhi, the glow of the television being the only light in the room. 

It calmed him down seeing them asleep.

While he was gone she'd keep him under control and he would keep her safe. 

He slipped the hoodie in his hands over himself, his car keys making a small noise as he made his way through the house and to the garage. 

He wasn't prepared to be at the Ootori estate for long anyways. 

He wasn't prepared for a discussion because there was nothing to 'discuss' 

He didnt like resorting to scaring his younger friends to listen, he never expected that Kyouya would be as out of control as the twins would get to where he would have to. 

He had to set him straight. 

"Are you... sure your one of Kyouya's friends....? You look a bit.....taller than the other boys he hangs out with......" 

Fuyumi hesitantly opened the door, letting him walk past the bodyguard beside her who was concerningly shorter than him. 

"Thank you" 

He turned his attention to the for mentioned second year, holding out his hand 

"bag" 

Kyouya nodded, stepping out onto the front steps of the home to talk privately. He shut the door behind them, handing over Haruhi's school bag.

"Here are her things, I'm afraid her cellphone was mysteriously 'crushed' when she ran out though. She may have stepped on it. I'll make sure to replace it, as an apology." 

Mori's eyes narrowed. 

Spite had gotten the better of him, he knew that broken phone wasn't an accident. He didnt expect him to go that far. 

"A real apology Ootori. You wont buy her forgiveness for whatever you did. You wont bribe her with sushi. You sure wont use her debt against her for this. You will own up as a man should. End of discussion." 

"Bold of you to tell me what to do in my own residence Mori-Sempai. If anyone else were to be that bold they would have to answer to the Ootori's special authority forces. By the way, I think I very well CAN bribe her with food. She has a simple commoner pallet, I think expensive food she will never get outside of my friendship will suffice" 

Mori felt his fingers ball into fists.

"You have no honor, none in the slightest" 

He gripped his shirt collar, his calm expression not changing. 

"Master Kyouya!" 

Kyouya's hand shot up, stopping the guard from coming any closer to them.

He turned up to Mori with an innocent smile

"I know you wont do it"

"I have honor. You are lucky. There is no reason for you to smile right now, I dont care what special police force you have, what bodyguard you need, you are still weak and bring dishonor to your name" 

He let go, turning to leave

"never try anything with her again. If you hurt her like you did tonight I'll have no problem making sure you regret it" 

He looked back again. 

"The host club deserves a better friend" 

With that he put the bag in the back seat, getting into the car. 

Kyouya watched in silence as his car left the driveway, turning out of the front of the estate. 

Fuyumi's hand rested on his shoulder

"What was that about?" 

He shook his head, walking towards the door. 

"Nothing sis, I suppose I just have some competition after all"

"Hey Takashi!" 

Honey gave his cousin a small wave over to him, whisper shouting across the room. He nodded and walked over to find a peculiar sight. 

Haruhi was cuddled up on the edge of the couch, hugging the Tiger-shi plush to her chest. Her bangs were swept over her eyes. He fought the urge to move them. 

Honey was now in his PJ's 

"Haru-chan fell asleep, I left Tiger-shi to keep her safe while I got ready for bed and when I came back she was asleep" 

He nodded, setting down her bag and leaning down beside her

"Is she okay" He asked, examining her sleeping figure for a minute. 

Her breathing was calm, her lips curved into a small, barely noticeable smile. 

"Uh huh, just tired" He smiled, hugging Usa-chan close. "Haru-chan looks cute like this huh?" 

"Hm" He looked down to the Tiger plush, slightly confused. 

"Satoshi gave you that plush, do you not like it" 

The small blonde shook his head, holding up his stuffed bunny

"No I do, but Usa-chan said she'd feel more comfortable with Tiger-shi to cuddle up with when I left. She seemed like she needed it more tonight so he sent Tiger-shi to protect her in her dreams" 

Mori looked down at the stuffed animal again, not wanting to ask why. 

He couldn't help it though

"Usa-chan doesn't make her feel comfortable" 

"He does, but Tiger-shi looks like you, she feels most safe with you conscious or not" 

His face flushed, he quietly cleared his throat

"You dont know that Mitsukuni" 

"Maybe I dont. Maybe it's just obvious. Take Haru-chan to her room kay?" 

He got up from the couch, silently walking past him and towards the kitchen, presumably to grab a slice of cake before bed. He'd come back to make him brush his teeth after he put Haruhi to sleep. 

He swung her backpack strap onto his shoulder before gently picking up the fragile girl. 

She stirred in her sleep, worrying him to wake her. 

She held onto the stuffed animal tight, resting her head on his chest. He blushed, slowly walking her down the hall. 

The walk was calm, the only sound he could hear was her faint heartbeat next to his. 

His mind flashed back to that day at the jungle pool when he held her like he did now, the small moments of quiet they shared occasionally were the happiest memories they had together. That small connection they shared, where she understood how he was quiet and respected it. 

He found her door in the dark, slowly opening it so it wouldn't creak. 

He walked over, supporting her on one arm while moving the blankets away, gently setting her down. 

He pulled the blanket over her, gently prying the stuffed animal away from her and stuffing it into his hoodie pocket. 

He knew she was normally embarrassed to cuddle with Usa-chan, doing it for the sole reason that it made Mitsukuni happy, thinking Usa-chan was helping her as well. 

She thought afternoon naps were slightly childish but didn't blatantly say it. 

She wouldn't want to wake up cuddling a stuffed animal, her strong independence quickly diminished the idea that she slept with a stuffed animal as a child, so she she'd be embarrassed doing it now. 

However, when he went to leave, something was lightly pulling him back down.

"Stay....warm....soft.... tiger......stay....." she mumbled in her sleep, just loud enough for him to hear. 

His head turned back down to her.

She had his hand in her's now, almost in a pleading way. 

His face flushed dark red. 

"Haruhi...." 

He knew she wasn't going to but her small smile was gone, making her look like she would cry. 

His chest began to ache at the thought of seeing her cry again that night. He hesitantly relented and leaned down beside the bed, resting his arm where she could hold onto it. 

He let his other rest beside her head, running his fingers through her hair to calm her in her sleep. 

Looks like he would be sleeping on the floor.

The small smile she had before had returned now, she snuggled lightly against his arm. 

He smiled

It was worth it

'Mitsukuni you better remember to brush your teeth on your own' He thought, letting his eyes fall shut as he rested his head on the small edge of the bed.

Meanwhile, behind him, Honey turned his head away from the scene with a small smirk on his face. He let out a small giggle, walking away from Haruhi's room before he could be seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's some more fluff! I have a fluff cannon at this point! Light it up!
> 
> Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter though, comment any thoughts below. Have a nice day :)


	12. Tired smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry Kyouya's gonna be an asshole before he get's to be a mom again. I promise ya'll will see mama Kyouya later though

Haruhi groaned in exhaustion as the annoying sound of an alarm blared through the room. 

It wasnt her familiar alarm however, sounding slightly different. 

She slowly opened her eyes to adjust to the light bleeding through the curtains until they suddenly shot open at the sight in front of her. 

'Oh.....my God.....' 

Her face slushed, she wanted to screamed but quickly suppressed it. 

She was face to face with Mori, sound asleep with his face burried in the sheets in front of her. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his, and one of his hands was in her hair. 

The alarm continued to go off, causing her to panic even more. 

She couldnt process her thoughts there and now, she didnt know what to think about their position. 

She moved her hands from his arm to his shoulder, gently shaking him.

"Sempai....?" 

No response. 

She shook him a little more 

"Sempai wake up....." 

"Hm..." 

She nearly screamed again when she finally got a response.

She saw the stoic third year slowly open his eyes, now noticing the bags that had formed under them. His eyes were empty and clearly struggled to stay open.

How much sleep had he gotten last night? 

How did either of them end up like this?

His hair was slightly messy, she fought the urge to run her fingers through it like he was currently doing to her. 

She slightly blushed at the thought. 

"Hm..." He moved the arm she had been holding up to his eyes, rubbing them.

"It's time to wake up....I think your alarm went off....." She muttered, still trying not to blush any redder.

"Hm" He nodded "It did" 

He grabbed his phone from his pocket, noticing in slight annoyance how it was now at only three percent. 

He looked back to her, noticing her appearance caused his chest to flutter slightly 

He couldn't help but let out a small chuckle at her messy hair, the static from the pillow bringing it up all over her head. 

He had alwase had special place in his heart for cute things

She was now taking her place amongst those cute things 

He didnt give off a hint of hesitance, placing a hand on her cheek. He gently turned her face up slightly, just enough to lock eyes with her. 

He ran his thumb along her cheek and swept her hair out of her face, placing his forehead against hers. His eyes fell shut again, pausing before speaking again, not even thinking about what he was doing. 

"Good morning Haruhi" 

"Good morning to you too Sempai...." She replied, her face was redder than Kasanoda's hair. Their faces were too close. "Um....Dont you think we should be getting ready for school....?" She asked, desperately trying to snap him back to reality.

Where the hell was a doughnut when you needed it?

She figured out on her own that he wasnt his best when tired. His lapse in self control was something he was clearly embarrassed about. 

She didnt want him to ignore her again like he did last time

She de-tangled herself from the situation, sitting on the edge of the bed. 

"I'm sure Honey-Sempai's waiting for you by now isnt he?" She asked, a hint of a quiver to her voice without even realizing it. 

Mori's eyes almost shot wide open, suddenly realizing what he had done.

"Hm..." 

He nodded, standing up. 

"I need to go wake him up" 

"I'll see you later then" She gave him a relaxed smile as he left, trying to reassure him one last time before he'd try to ignore her. 

"Thank You...." 

"Hm" He turned over his shoulder, looking back at her. 

"Thank you for staying with me last night, for bringing me to my room. I said I appreciate what you and Honey-Sempai have been doing for these past few days, didnt I?"

He nearly let out a sigh of relief, realizing that she and him now had a mutual agreement between one another if this were to happen again

She knew he wasn't doing it on purpose

He knew she didnt mind letting it go, he was thankful for her forgiveness. 

He didnt think he deserved it in any way

"Hm...No problem" 

He gave her a small smile, thankful to get one in return as he left the room

"Crap are we in trouble or something?" 

"I dont remember doing anything in the last couple hours or so do you?" 

"How could we have even fucked up already? We werent even messing with him at lunch, we were just messing with the boss right?" 

"Yeah, and he usualy doesn't give a damn about that though. Why is he here?"

Kouru and Hikaru guessed back and forth as they stared in surprise, their attention had been stolen by the shadow king, making a surprise visit to their class before the last lessons of the day. 

He was talking to their teacher about something, unfortunately for them they sat in the back of the room so they couldnt eavesdrop. 

"He seems normal....Haruhi what do you think?" Hikaru asked, turning his and his brother's attention to their brunette friend. 

She however surprised them with an annoyed expression that for once, wasnt pointed at them, the same expression she had been wearing since he walked in. 

She looked back to her work, quiet for a second

"I dont care, I just hope the smug bastard leaves" 

Kouru raised an eyebrow at her attitude change, giving a look to his twin. 

"You seem....pissed?" 

"Yeah what's wrong? We all know he's a bastard but we dont say it out loud. Well, at school anyways, cant speak for what we say at home" 

She sighed 

"Just drop it, I'm upset with him and it's none of your business" 

"Oh look at that, smug bastard coming your way" 

Hikaru brought her attention to him, pointing to Kyouya. 

He was looking at her, wearing his normal host smile before walking over. 

Her simple annoyed expression switched to an enraged glare, she set her book down, her eyes followed the raven-haired second year as he walked up to their group. 

Hikaru and Kouru saw her expression, surprised enough she would actually glare at the shadow king. 

They backed up, watching from a small distance

Kyouya however, looked as he normally did

"Haruhi? I asked if it was alright if we talk in the hallway for a bit. I'm sure you know we have a few things to discuss" 

She paused for a second before nodding, trudging behind him as they walked out of the classroom. 

Leaving a class full of surprised and scared students behind them

"She's dead" The twins muttered together, staring at the door in silence, waiting for her to hopefully come back.

"Alright. Explain." Haruhi crossed her arms, still glaring at him. 

One thing he remembered to keep in mind

She wasnt scared of him anymore, she wasnt scared of talking back to him. 

"I realize my behavior last night may not have been...honorable to you or myself. Although, in my defense, I thought I had a good chance"

"Excuse me?" She raised her voice "In your 'defense'? Sempai there's no excuse here! there's no defense! I trusted you! I thought we were friends! When you did that I felt scared and helpless! I dont ever wanna feel that way!" 

"And I understand that" He replied "You dont have to forgive me, I'm not going to ask for your forgiveness. That isnt what you want, you wanted an explanation. I just want you to understand the situation" 

"and what's there to understand? You couldnt express whatever feelings you had normally so you scared the hell out of me instead? You thought since your family name was Ootori you could do what you want and I'd just go with it? What am I supposed to understand here because all I can see is what you did. You forced me to do something I didnt want to do!" 

"Look, we arent going to get anywhere with this exchange. I'll just remind you that if we were to stop being friends out of the blue, even as civil as we were, it would raise some questions with the rest of the club and our guests wouldnt it?" 

Haruhi sighed, nodding. 

The smug bastard had a point....if Tamaki were to know his precious daughter wasnt getting along with 'mommy' he'd start asking why

"Inevitably, more people would get hurt if we were to carry on being at odds, I propose we simple forget this little mishap ever occurred and start our friendship where it was" 

Kyouya quickly tried to confuse her, changing the subject before she could question it. He could use a new phone like he could fancy tuna, like a carrot on a stick in a way. Who was she to refuse if he was trying to make a means?

"By the way, on a different note, I'm afraid your cell phone was broken in the midst of your panic last night, you seem to have stepped on it" 

She knew he was lying almost instantly. She had her phone on that table beside her the entire time. Along with her school bag she had left it there.

She'd seen him break a camera with a rock in one try, she guessed it didnt take much effort to break her phone. 

That thought was swept aside, being replaced with panic when she realized the main problem with her phone being broken.

It couldnt be a worse possible time for her to lose contact with her dad

"Sempai! the twins gave me that phone! it has all my contacts on it! Including my dad! I told him I'd keep contact with him! He's gonna freak out!" 

"It isnt so bad Haruhi, the twins gave you an outdated flip phone, I realize commoners cant really update their technology as frequently but it was about due anyways. I'll have a replacement for you sent soon enough" 

Did he not just hear what she said? Or did he just not care?

He had no reason to be concerned of course! He had contact with her father no matter what!

She sighed, walking back towards the door 

She really didnt want to talk to him anymore for a while, she'd act normal during club hours but she needed more than a day to consider really forgiving him. 

She told him what he wanted to hear

She just wanted to get through her last class, through club, and leave. 

The more days she got over with, the closer and closer she got to ending the seemingly never ending week of hell.

"Please dont, I dont want any more added to my debt. I'll use a payphone to contact my dad later, see if he still has an old burner phone or something he can send." 

"I insi-" 

"Goodbye Sempai" 

She walked into the room and around the corner, leaving him standing with a slight smile

"It isnt beyond repair if I have anything to do about it. You'll come around soon enough Haruhi, time fixes all" 

'Perfect' 

Mori's eyes landed on Haruhi as she approached the third music room, half hurrying over to meet her. 

He had to get to her before she walked in. 

Mitsukuni was waiting for him so he needed to hurry a bit. 

She mindlessly put a hand on the door handle, about to open it before he reached out

He lightly placed a hand on hers, stopping her.

She turned around to face him, clearly surprised 

"Oh...Hey Sempai...what's wrong? You need something?" 

He tried his best not to blush while looking at her curious eyes. 

Her eyes in general could memorize him enough to stop focusing on every day things. They were dark orbs shat shone like gems with un-known innocence. 

She didnt show any inner selfish motive while talking to him like his guests did. Those girls were after him because of his family's connections to the Haninozuka fortune combined with his own. 

Hers showed genuine concern when he chose to speak to her, completely concentrated. 

"Hm...Come with me" 

He silently asked her to come with him by holding his hand out. 

She raised an eyebrow at him

"But wont they need us today in the club? I left early yesterday, wont Honey-Sempai wonder where you are as well?" 

"Mitsukuni's already in the car, we already excused ourselves today. Kyouya had no reason to say no" 

And he sure didnt. He was running his patience thin just by thinking of the third Ootori heir, trying not to re-live the rage he still had pent up.

He held his normal expression and motioned to his hand again, silently asking her to take it.

She shrugged after a moment of reluctancy, taking his hand as they walked down the hall. 

Luckily for them the halls were pretty much empty except the occasional teacher so no one saw them, two male students, walking hand and hand. 

No one saw them blushing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter kinda sucks, things in my personal life are getting kinda rocky lately so I'm working on balance rn. I promise though I'm gonna keep up with my updates schedule the best I can. Hope ya'll like the story so far :)


	13. The sleepless stoic type

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Screw Apple, These mf's have Pineapple!

"MOMMA! WHERE IS SHE?! I MISS MY LITTLE GIRL!" Tamaki had been bawling his eyes out, nearly flooding the clubroom with his tears

The twins were on either side of him, toying with the sad blonde 

"I think she got tired of you and moved away!" 

"She'll come back for the rest of us soon, but not you of course!" 

"We'll find her a new daddy in a week or so, we'll be a big happy family somewhere else! doesn't that sound nice?" 

"AAAHH MAKE THEM STOP MOMMY! MAKE THEM STOP!" The blonde weakly held onto his friends pantleg, curling up into a ball while the twins laughed their asses off

Kyoya gently kicked his friend back, shooting a warning glance to the twins 

"Was she not with you two when she left class?" 

Tamaki's eyes narrowed accusingly

"Yeah! where was she! What did you do with my little angel?!" 

They shrugged 

"We honestly don't know" Kouru answered first

"We went to walk with her as normal but she was already gone" 

"She had to return a book to the library, she said she'd meet us but she wasn't here" 

Kyouya looked up from his notebook 

"So none of you have noticed yet that Mori-Sempai and Honey-Sempai are gone as well? I was notified of their absence but no one informed me Haruhi wouldn't be here. A bit inconvenient, her customers will be disappointed." 

His dim-witted friends all shot looks of surprise to him 

He raised an eyebrow 

"What?" 

"Where did they say they were going!" The twins shouted in unison, desperate for answers. 

"No need to worry, I can send a few officers after them, I can track their location on my phone and get updates as they g-" 

"HELICOPTER PARENTING TIME!" 

Tamaki rushed over to the club room's door, slamming it shut and locking it. 

Kyouya raised an eyebrow when the twins rolled out the popcorn machine

"What are you-" 

"Get together whatever video surveillance you have! You are such a great mommy! Keeping our precious daughter safe!" 

He wrapped his friend in a bear hug

"Thank you Kyouya!" 

The raven-haired boy sighed, texting a quick message to his officers

-Videotape her instead, I don't want to keep looking down at my phone for messages. 

He was going to keep an eye on her anyways but now he supposed he had to share.

"We're here!" Honey happily bounced in his seat, prompting Haruhi to look out her window.

She was more than a little surprised to see the car was now in the mall parking lot. She looked to Mori for an answer. 

'They made me ditch host club....to go shopping....?' 

She looked to Honey

"Why did we come to the mall? Is there something you need to pick up? or....maybe something Usa-chan needs to pick up?" 

"Takashi needs to pick up an order he made at one of the stores! But if you wanna you can help me choose some new outfits for Usa-chan too! Oh! maybe you two can have a twin day! You'd look so cute!" 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at the stoic third year beside her, getting simple silence in return

"Why'd you need me then? Tamaki-Sempai's probably throwing a tantrum right now....I cant help but feel like I'm being irresponsible somehow....." 

He turned to face her finally, he squeezed her hand in reassurance 

"You've worked hard this week, you've earned some time to relax. You'll see why we needed you here" 

He reached for the doorknob, letting go of her hand to open it for them

She frowned a little at the loss of contact, hesitantly getting out of the car with Honey only for him to grab her hand instead, excitedly pulling her beside him

'This is gonna be a long day...'

The walk into the mall was silent between her and Mori, only being filled with Honey's continuous upbeat rantings to Usa-chan. 

Mori kept checking his phone, looking up as they walked around different areas. 

She wasn't paying attention to where they were going until he stopped in his tracks, standing in front of two glass doors. 

"Here" 

Haruhi looked up, instantly confused when she noticed the familiar pineapple icon she'd seen many times on the electronics owned by the host club. 

"A.....tech shop....?"

"Yep! Takashi ordered something from here during lunch! The closest store was at the commoners mall so here we are!" 

"Mm" 

He nodded, opening the glass doors for them. 

Honey's eyes wandered around the store, a few seconds passed before his eyes suddenly landed on a pile of animal themed charger cables for sale

"They have a charger shaped like a bunny!" He let go of Haruhi's hand, running over at lighting speed to price the item. 

Mori looked down to the brunette, taking her hand back in his again. 

He was exhausted, thank God there was no practice after this. He needed some sleep soon.

He walked her over to the desk, ringing the bell. 

A woman walked over, giving them a friendly smile 

"Hi, can I help you two?" 

Haruhi watched him hold up his phone screen with a simple "hm"

The woman examined the screen before nodding, reaching under the desk only to pull out a phone box

"Mr. Morinozuka? you ordered the pineapple X series seven phone correct?" 

"Hm" He nodded, the woman put the box into a plastic bag, handing it over to him.

She looked over to her computer and began typing. 

Haruhi stared at Mori questioningly, wondering why he'd need a new phone if he already had one. 

"The name you registered for the phone is under a new plan but the name and number stayed the same? You registered it under your family's friends plan for a Ms. Fujjioka? Is that correct?" 

Haruhi's eyes widened 

"What!" 

"Hm" Mori nodded again, ignoring her reaction.

The woman smiled, nodding as she typed in more information

"Alright that should be all! The plan is all set up, enjoy your pineapple product. Have a nice day!" 

He nodded to the girl before Honey ran up to them, all of them walking out of the store together. 

Haruhi frowned, a wave of guilt and confusion hit her when he handed her the bag.

'He bought me a new phone?! Dammit who told him my phone was broken?! Why?!"

"Mori-sempai.... I could have bought a new phone on my own... Why did you do this?" 

He wasnt surprised she was upset, but he didnt mind. Kyouya broke her phone out of selfishness and anger. He didnt think how it would effect her later. Her father needed to have contact with his daughter. That was a reason she couldn't argue with

"Because your father will worry if he cant contact you" He reasoned.

She paused 

He was right, she probably had at least seven missed calls from him already.

"Just answer me.....how much was this phone Sempai....?" 

"Eighty-thousand yen" He decided to be honest with her instead of brushing it off. 

"Eighty thousand?! Sempai how will I pay you AND the host club back?!"

"Do you not like it Haru-chan....?" Honey asked, eyes welling up slightly 

Haruhi panicked

"Sempai no no no! of course I like it! It's just....it wasn't your responsibility to buy my phone.....You both have already done so much for me...... Spending that much on a phone is a bit wasteful if your just gonna hand it to me isnt it....? The twins and Tamaki-Sempai are constant safety hazards, my last phone's screen was riddled with cracks.....Your wasting your money on me..." 

"No I'm not" Mori shook his head, giving a small squeeze to her hand 

"It's not a waste if it's you" He continued in his same monotone

Haruhi slightly blushed, still frowning. 

Honey grabbed both her hands from him, swinging them as he talked, trying to lessen up her reluctant attitude a bit.

"We like doing nice things for you Haru-chan! Your our friend! You deserve it!" 

"Sempai-" 

"I promise we wont spoil you anymore for the rest of the day if you accept the phone, okay?" 

She looked back to Mori who kept the same unreadable expression. 

The rest of the day was probably as good of a deal as she would get.

'Why....' 

She sighed, taking the bag.

"Fine....but I still feel guilty about accepting it...."

"It should have your contacts backed up from your old phone! that model is really good! me and Takashi have the same one!" 

"Does it back up my camera too?" She asked, slightly hopeful now. She had months worth of family photos, photo's with the club, and-

"I don't think so, sorry...." 

"Oh..." 

She took the phone out, turning it on. 

"I hope my drive at least has some of my pictures....I wish I saved more of them..." 

Honey raised an eyebrow 

"What pictures were those?" 

"My old phone had one of my favorite pictures as the background actually....I don't think I can get it back...."

"Hm of you and your dad?" Mori asked, slightly interested now

She smiled, slightly sad at the memory popping to mind

"Me and my dad was my lock screen....he thought it'd be a funny way to tell people not to go through my phone.....My wallpaper was....a picture I had with you and Honey-Sempai....when you guys dressed as girls to try and keep me from those lobelia weirdoes......It was the funniest thing I've ever seen.....but it was also the sweetest thing you guys have ever done......"

Honey held up Usa-chan and the hand he was holding into the air

"Don't worry Haru-chan! We'll still be your big sisters for life!" 

She giggled, thinking back to the memory

"Somehow I knew they wouldn't be able to get you into drag Mori-Sempai, even though I can totally see you being a very beautiful princess by the way" she joked

"Hm" 

He shook his head, confusing the brunette for a moment

"You hold far more beauty than I do, Haruhi" He muttered, turning his head to stare straight ahead. 

He seriously needed some damn sleep, and soon. 

Honey frowned 

"Takashi" he gently warned, pulling on his arm. 

"You think I'm beautiful? or is that the lack of sleep talking again?" She asked, gripping both their attention

Mori stopped, eyes slightly wide just enough to notice. She stood firm, making him face her. He didn't think she'd openly admit she knew about that. He was only half sure she even knew at all.

"I know when your tired you don't think straight, say ridiculous things you don't really think right? I've kinda figured it out but all I wanna say is If you stayed up last night because I kept you with me then I'd feel bad. So as soon as you can I want you to get some sleep if you can. Please?" 

She hit the dart right in the center 

'Thank God' the cousins thought together

He couldn't help but give her a small smile, which she returned, exchanging a small agreement between them. 

He'd sleep as soon as he could.

Her phone blinked on, before she could process it though messages and missed calls icons began flashing sporadically on the screen. 

Her eyes widened at the hundreds of notifications

She groaned in annoyance

"Son of a-

"Bitch!" 

The twins chorused, staring at the screen in disbelief. 

"No wonder she didn't answer our messages! her phone was busted!" 

"How did that happen though? the phone we gave her sucked but it was a flip phone! aren't those things supposed to be indestructible?" 

"Both of you quiet! I cant hear!" The blonde father of the club interrupted, slamming his hands over the twins mouths. 

Kyouya silently stared at the screen, hiding the fire in his eyes behind his glasses. 

'Mori-Sempai you sly bastard, seems I underestimated you after all'

Mori felt his eyelids begin to drop as the car started up in front of them. The world was getting darker by the minute, he was much more tired than he thought. Adding insult to injury by not eating or drinking anything that day to the sleep deprivation was taking it's toll and then some by every second. It was weakness he didn't want to show but really, if he did here, no one would notice. 

The driver was separated with a black tinted window and even then he wouldn't dare tell anyone of his lapse of strength 

Honey was too busy stuffing his face with the cake pops they picked up from a coffee shop in the mall, he had about fifty so he was good for at least an hour

and Haruhi?

His brain went numb, his actions purely ran by instinct. 

Closest person to him-

Haruhi, she was holding his hand still. 

Haruhi's hands were soft, warm, and cute

He liked soft, warm, and cute things....

like stuffed animals when he was very very young still....

Haruhi...

stuffed animal.... 

The last thing he saw before he acted was the small brunette staring out the window as they drove. He let his eyes shut, moving without any hesitance. 

"Sempai wh-" 

Haruhi felt his hand leave hers, following his other to wrap his arms around her. She was pulled back and into his side. She felt her whole face glow bright pink when his head rested on top of hers, a quiet grunt could be heard before she was sure he was asleep. 

His heartbeat gradually slowed down along with his breathing. 

Honey sat in front of her, she looked to him, eyes wide. He was quiet, giving her an innocent smile.

"Sempai....he fell asleep.....I cant move.....what do I do......?" She whisper-shouted, trying not to wake him. 

Honey giggled "I don't think your gonna be able to wake him up anytime soon, you DID say you wanted him to sleep as soon as he could Haru-chan. We have an hour drive back home so thats plenty of time, besides..." 

He hugged Usa-chan to his chest, looking at the floor with a....sad smile?

"He's never looked so comfortable. It's nice seeing him happy....it's been a while......so thank you...." 

She looked back up to Mori, now wondering to herself. 

'What does Honey-Sempai mean by that....'

She cuddled closer to him, resting her head on his chest. To her surprise his lips turned up into a small smile. She blushed, bringing her knees up to her chest and shutting her eyes to try and sleep as well. 

'Why would he be un-happy....?'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, I love reading the comments btw so make sure to tell me what you think if you want, I forgot to add this earlier but sorry if there are a few errors or short sentences. I finished up the chapter today but I live in a frozen wasteland and I was talking to my friend outside for three hours so I may have screwed up, sorry bout that! Have a nice day :)


	14. Telling the truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You guys will finally figure out what Honey meant in the last chapter!

Hika: Hey? are you still up?

Haruhi glanced to her phone screen on her desk, shutting her book for a second. She opened the text, giving a quick reply

Haruhi: Yeah, doing homework. Did you get yours done?

Hika: You already know that answer by now

Haruhi: Do your work idiot, I'm hanging up

Hika: Haruhi come on! I wanna talk! I'm bored!

Haruhi: Why dont you hang out with Kouru?

Hikaru looked over to his brother who was lazily draped over the couch like a sleeping cat, a small puddle of drool forming a river from his mouth. He cringed in slight disgust. He was out cold.

Hika: He's....not an option....if I try to wake him up right now I might get punched and then we'll both be out

Haruhi: Well now I kinda hope he does, it'll get you to leave me the hell alone wont it? :)

Hika: You know your never getting rid of me :)

Hika: Why dont you come over? I promise I'll do whatever boring nerd stuff you want plz? 

Haruhi frowned, thinking back to the study session the night before. She shook away the thought, feeling a well of panic bubble up in her stomach. A part of her wanted to cry thinking about it. Thankfully she didnt

She'd been to the twins house before, and it was surprisingly nice. Sure they didnt do jack shit during their 'study time' but they were still her friends, so when Hikaru face planted while doing the backpack challenge with all their backpacks she surprisingly found herself laughing her ass off. 

It wasnt a complete waste because after they cleaned up his bloody nose they managed to settle down and do some work.

She found herself just wanting to hang out for once. Her homework was two questions from done anyways, it'd be finished by the time he got there.

Haruhi: Well...

Hika: It's only six, I can come pick you up if you want

Haruhi: No way in hell am I getting in a car with you as the driver EVER again. You got your license a month ago and still manage to confuse the brake and the gas pedal. You slammed my face into the windshield idiot.

Hika: Your never gonna let that go are you?

Haruhi: No way in hell :)

Hika: Fine, then I'll just have to take the limo, my rich bastard self will be there soon :)

Haruhi: I hate you :)

Hika: bye :)

"YES!" 

Hikaru threw his phone onto the couch, throwing his fists up into the air in victory

Kouru winced in his sleep, slowly trying to wake up

"Why are you so happy?" 

"Haruhi's coming over! I got her to take a break from her stupid nerd crap!" 

Kouru chuckled "She's probably bringing it over with her, you know your gonna have to study too dont you?" 

Hikaru raised an eyebrow 

"What about you?" 

"I'm still sleeping, if you wake me up to do homework dont think I'll hesitate to give you a bloody nose. You look very good in red dear brother" 

"Oh please" he smirked, getting up from the couch "You love me too much to do that" 

"Not if you wake me up again, I'm freezing my ass off and you know I sleep when I'm cold" 

"Then warm your ass up!" Hikaru laughed, throwing one of the blankets at him

He waved goodbye to his brother before heading down the hall to get ready to go.

"We can study in the room, Kouru's taking up the couch" 

Hikaru lead Haruhi through the looping halls of the house, occasionally passing by servants who were cleaning empty rooms or dusting. 

She couldnt help but feel small in a house like this

'rich bastards...' 

"How much house does your family need....this seems like a lot doesnt it?" 

He shrugged as they finally approached his room

"Eh, when you grow up in a place like this you dont really notice I guess" 

He opened the door, letting her look around while he went to clear off his and Kouru's study desk. 

"You can set your stuff down by the bed if you want, the desk should be cleared in a min-" 

He groaned in complaint, noticing the half plate of food sitting on the desk from earlier that day. Haruhi raised an eyebrow, walking over. 

He picked it up

"Crap I forgot to take my plate back to the kitchen, the maid is gonna be pissed if it ends up rotting overnight on one of my mom's good plates" 

She raised an eyebrow 

"You used a good plate....because...?" 

"I was too lazy to walk to the kitchen, so I took it out of my mom's vintage china cabinet in the dining room cause it was closer" 

He looked down, shrugging with slight surprise at the amount of food left on it

"Wow, guess I wasn't that hungry. Here, you want it? it's fresh...enough I guess? I only opened it about an hour ago" 

Haruhi then noticed the food on the plate. 

It was sushi

The study meet at Kyouya's house flashed though her mind, the fear she felt resurfacing as well.

Hikaru's eyes widened when he saw her eyes start to flood with tears. He set down the plate, hesitantly going to place a hand on her shoulder

"Whoa....are you okay...? it's not exactly 'deluxe' sushi, I just picked it up on the way home from the commoners market but-" 

She surprised him when she almost seemed....scared when shoving him back. 

"Haruhi...?" 

"I...I'm...I'm fine Hika.....I just....." 

She clearly couldnt hold back her tears. 

He hesitantly put his hands around the frail girl, even more surprised when she immediately hugged him, letting herself cry into his chest. 

"I.....I....had a bad experience last time someone offered me sushi okay...?......it'll be a while before I see it the same again.....I cant say what happened.....I dont want to create problems for the club......you and Kouru are some of my closest friends.....so I just wanna trust that you wont laugh at me for crying about this...." 

"I'm not gonna laugh....I promise...." 

The gears began turning in his head

'why would it create trouble in the club?' 

'Did someone from the club do something?' 

'Who could've done something? the only people she's been with most of that time are-' 

"Thanks Hika....your a good friend......" 

That sentence alone shot a bullet into his chest, a sudden rush of guilt went through his mind, making him remember all of the times he was a horrible friend to her. 

He apologized for all of them, regaining the right to be called a 'good' friend to her

Except one

He wrecked her apartment, lied about it, and got her hurt all in a two day span. 

The guilt wouldnt dissapear and his moral right to be called a 'good' friend in her eyes wouldnt return until he told her the truth.

'This is gonna suck...'

"Haruhi....? I uh....I....need to tell you something.....your not gonna like it though....." 

She looked back up, a look of concern painted her expression

"What is it...?" 

'shit she's making this hard....'

He took in a quick breath, shakily letting it go before confessing

"Okay so.....Me and Kouru......that day we went to your apartment.......we were talking in the washroom...and.....I accidentally snapped the water spout off the sink, I panicked when it started flooding, ran out, then I paid your commoner neighbor to take the fall......." 

"WHAT?!" Haruhi's expression quickly changed to rage and shock

Hikaru instantly knew he screwed up 

"Wait Haru-" 

"No! not 'wait Haruhi'! Not this time! What is wrong with you?!" She shouted, blind with anger. 

She shoved him back, picking up her things to leave 

She swung her bag over her shoulder "How long were you planning to hide that from me?! You werent even gonna tell me were you?!" 

He grabbed her arm, turning her to face him. He was slightly angry now, he was gonna tell her eventually! She was lucky he did it sooner than later.

"Well your answering your own question! Why are you getting so pissy about it? That place was a dump waiting to fall apart anyways!" 

SMACK

"That apartment was my home since I was a toddler! it was home enough for my mom and dad and it was home enough for me! That apartment held countless memories for me! So dont you DARE think just cause your some rich bastard that you can judge where I live!" 

Hikaru's eyes went wide, his cheek stung in burning pain, causing him to instinctively quickly feel for blood with his hand. He looked down after a moment of shock to find Haruhi was already gone.

He heard the familiar voice of Kouru in the hall outside their room

"Ow! What the hell?!" 

He looked up to find him turning the corner of the doorway, rubbing his cheek in pain. He glared at Hikaru

"She slapped me! What the hell happened in here?!" 

"Your actually one number off, C is the answer not D"

"I knew that already!" Chika pouted

Satoshi raised an eyebrow "You've been stuck on that question for five minutes though, so I doubt it" 

The younger Haninozuka snapped 

"Quiet!" 

He flipped the page of the study book in front of him

"Just move onto the next question your having trouble with, you'll get through it at your own pace dont worry" 

"I know idiot! Now quiet!"

CLICK 

Satoshi's head turned towards the door, he smiled when he saw Haruhi come through

He waved as she walked past the kitchen

"Hey Haru-" 

Satoshi watched in surprise when Haruhi stomped quickly past them, turning the corner while muttering god knew what under her breath. 

That same demeanor clicked with the one she had a few nights prior, painting his expression with concern. He shut his study book.

"Oh no, she's upset. This cant be good..." 

Yasuchika looked up, a small bit of concern on his face before he quickly wiped it away and looked back towards his homework. 

"It isnt our concern, Mitsukuni and Takashi are her friends arent they? let them handle it" 

"Well Taka-kun and Mitsukuni are already asleep, and I'm up, so I'm gonna go check on her, you can stay and do homework if you want" 

Satoshi got up, going after her

Yasuchika paused for a moment, contemplating his decision before finally sighing to himself, putting down his glass and following his cousin.

'Just gonna make sure he doesnt say something stupid, that's all your doing' He assured himself, catching up with Satoshi.

His cousin smirked when he did

"I knew it" 

"Quiet!" Chika warned glaring at the floor as he walked. 

They made it to her bedroom, Chika let Satoshi knock on the door. 

"Uh Haruhi? You okay in there?" 

"What do you think idiot? you said yourself she looked upset" Chika replied. 

The door suddenly swung open, startling the middle schooler. 

Satoshi raised an eyebrow at her unfamiliar rested rage face. She didnt look happy thats for sure. 

Despite his worry he asked her

"We saw you walk in, you looked kinda...upset? Just checking on you, so mind telling us what's up?" 

Haruhi ushered them into her room with a couple word answer. She sat down on her bed, staring at the floor as she spoke

"I went to Hikaru and Kouru's house" 

Satoshi nodded, knowing instantly why she might be angry. Most people were annoyed with the twins true nature after a while of being around them. 

"Oh. them. So? which one screwed up?" 

She sighed "Both. As usual their stupidity is a package deal. Hikaru told me that he and Kouru were the ones who flooded my apartment! Then when I got mad, he acted like I was being over-dramatic and that it was, in his words, 'a dump waiting to fall apart' anyways! So I slapped him in his rich jerk face and left!" 

She got more angry as she spoke, forcing herself to relive the bubbling rage. 

Chika spoke up

"You slapped them? Did Takashi teach you nothing? See Satoshi? this is what happens when you go easy and baby someone instead of training them" 

"You almost killed her with pushups" He replied

Haruhi pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration

"You know....I was just fine when I was under the radar....everyone just knew me as the commoner kid and left me alone.....then I broke a stupid vase and became a project for a spoiled group of rich jerks who treat me like they dont even care about me....they see me as an object.....a servant.....that's all I am to them because I was born and raised differently...."

Satoshi raised an eyebrow 

"You dont think we feel that way about you though do you?" 

She looked at him 

"What do you mean?" 

He sat down beside her, resting a hand on her shoulder. Chika grudgingly sat on her other side

"I mean everyone in my family sees you in their own way but we all see you the same. Mitsukuni considers you like the little sister he never had, I think your pretty cool, even though Chika wont admit it, he thinks your the least annoying person in the host club-" 

"Hey!" Chika crossed his arms, looking at the floor "He doesn't speak for me just for clearance! I just followed him to make sure he doesn't say something idiotic!" 

Satoshi rolled his eyes

"Anyways, my mom and my aunt take care of you like your one of us, my uncle thinks your determined enough to teach, and as for Taka-kun?" 

He gestured to the room around them with a small smirk

"Do I really need to explain how he feels about you if he's willing to spend the night on the floor for you and yes, I managed to get him to explain why he was so tired the next day" 

Haruhi blushed slightly

"Personally speaking, any idiot can see how Takashi feels about you, so dont act surprised when you figure it out" Chika muttered, earning a light smack to the back of the head from Satoshi before he continued

"The point is we all care about you Haruhi, and even though it's a little hard to tell for everyone besides Mitsukuni of course, we'll protect you like your one of our own. So if some jerk at school is bothering you, we dont care of he's older, smarter, or richer than you. If he has his own police, or his parents are the best fashion designers in Japan! He bruises just like everyone else! It doesnt matter how rich you are or poor you are, your a good person and your nice to my brother and my cousins so your just as good as our other friends!" 

He patted her on the back

"And we protect our friends, we make sure their happy. So I dont care which rich jerks bother you, their rich jerks who will end up with a bruise or two if they mess with you again. On my honor as a Morinozuka" 

Chika glared at his cousin "Dont bring an honorable name into-ow!" Satoshi lightly smacked him again, ignoring his objections.

"Dont be rude" 

Haruhi gave him a half smile, letting him hug her

"Thanks guys, that meant a lot...." 

"Whatever, I didnt even say anything....." Chika mumbled, Haruhi and Satoshi looked at eachother, both rolling their eyes with a smile. 

"I just dont know what to do anymore" 

Mori's eyes slightly widened when he heard his mother's voice, echoing through the previously empty living room of their home. 

He thought she was asleep like the rest of the family a while back. 

"It's getting more difficult to deal with his lack of closeness, honestly he never takes any time for his family anymore It's ridiculess! I work from home full time and I still make time for the boys! why can he?" 

'Not again' 

Mori sighed silently, leaning against the wall out of sight. 

"I confronted him and he promised me he'd try! again! but the next thing I know he buries himself in paperwork till three in the morning! he's starting to miss Satoshi and Takashi's tournaments again! He said he'd never do that again!" 

Thank God Satoshi was a heavy sleeper, his mother wasnt even trying to be quiet

Calls like this to his aunt had been going on for weeks now in the house when she thought no one was around to hear her. He knew his mother cared deeply about keeping he and his brother happy, trying to make sure they couldnt hear her when she talked about their father like she did. 

He knew what was going on though, the same thing had happened two years earlier and a few years earlier than that. They ended up staying at Mitsukuni's house with their mother until their dad would pull himself out of his work for a second and apologize. Then they'd go back to normal until both of them forgot again and then time would go by and they went right back to the same thing.

While he knew his father was definantly too involved in his work sometimes, his mother was also dramatic as well. She meant well but she overestimated their ability to handle their fathers absences. 

"I'm asking him to stay home tomorrow! the boys have a tournament in the morning and he very well can take a break and go to support them! if he does then I'll just drop it! If he doesn't then I swear I'm gonna-" 

More empty threats

He couldn't take anymore. 

He walked back down the hall to his room, going back to bed. 

The next week he was sitting on his bedroom floor, packing an over night bag with his brother. 

That night they said their respective goodbye's to their father while their mother stayed silent behind them. 

Minutes later they stood at Mitsukuni's door, the cold night air made his mother shiver, prompting his brother to hand over his hoodie. 

Just like that they were staying with the Haninozukas again.

It was shameful to have personal bedrooms in their home because they depended on them at all. The Morinozukas were supposed to be the ones keeping the Haninozukas kept well

For generations it was that way

He knew it was wrong of him to depend on his cousins family this way. 

His mother and his aunts relationship was similar to the rest of the men in each family. His aunt married into the family though while his father did as well. His mother didnt grow up with the traditions, only going to learn them after she had him and his brother. This proved to be one of the examples. 

"How long are we gonna stay here this time Taka-kun?" Satoshi shook his brothers shoulder snapping him out of his thoughts

He looked at his brother with a small shrug, not wanting to talk about it. 

He glanced over from the couch to the kitchen where his mother was speaking with his aunt in hushed voices, trying to hide something he's pretty sure he already knew. 

His mother held a lot of pride, and the fight she and his father had earlier that morning told him she wouldn't apologize anytime soon. His father was alwase the one to concede for the sake of him and his brother. It took a week or two at most normally but this time he wasnt sure. 

Their mother walked over to them, sitting down beside them on the couch. 

She was silent for a moment, her puffy red eyes were hidden behind her hair. 

"How are you two doing....? you boys feeling okay....?" 

"Hm" He nodded

"We're fine" Satoshi faked a small smile, putting a hand on his mothers shoulder. 

She sighed

"Boys I'm sorry about this....again....I just....I really can't....I just cant handle things right now with your father....it's nothing against him.......we just need a small break right now........" 

"Hm" 

His brother patted his mother on the back

"It's okay mom, take all the time you need. Besides staying with Chika and Mitsukuni is fun! Right Taka-kun?" 

"Hm" He nodded again, forcing a small smile as well. Thankfully his brother was alwase willing to be the more openly positive for both of them. 

His mother got used to his quiet demeanor, and didnt really mind. She knew he was supporting her even though he didnt express it.

"Just remember we'll be here for you whenever you need us. We love you mom" Satoshi hugged her, Mori simply nodded, getting the message across. 

He felt a small bit of relief when his mother smiled at them

"What would I do without you two?" 

Mori walked into his designated room, not bothering to switch on the lights before simply setting his bags on the floor. He just wanted to go to bed, wake up, and go to school already. Perks of being the quiet type was definantly the most when no one asked you about your day. They knew to leave him alone already.

He decided to quickly check his phone for any notifications before going to sleep, he had turned his phone off after school to focus on packing so he didnt get a chance to look

Sure enough the notifications, mostly from the other club members group chat piled up quickly. 

Those, and one individual message. 

He opened the group chat

Tamaki: No she isnt!

Hikaru: Yeah she is!

Tamaki: No she isnt!

Kouru: Yeah she is!

Tamaki: You two are insufferable! 

There really wasnt any escaping people arguing in his life, he could only assume it was something about Haruhi seeing as they used 'she' 

He scrolled to the second notification

Speaking of the hostess, surprisingly the individual message

was from her

He looked at the other message

Haruhi: Sorry about that, just for some background, I made the mistake of trying to get them to be quiet an hour back and they started arguing over if I was annoyed at Tamaki-Sempai or them. It's both at this point btw. 

He sat down on his bed, typing out a reply on the small keys before pressing send. 

Mori-Sempai- It's fine

.......

Haruhi- We dont text that much do we? 

He was slightly surprised she noticed it as well. He was surprised she was messaging him at all actually, most of the girls at Ouran had their phones basically sewn to their hands. 

Mori-Sempai- Not really, I mostly text Mitsukuni if necessary

Haruhi- I dont really like it either, but it was the least possible way to bother you

Mori smiled, she was alwase much too considerate

Mori-Sempai- I dont mind, it's fine

Haruhi- thanks

.........

Haruhi- Well Goodnight then Sempai

........

Mori-Sempai- Goodnight Haruhi

A part of him didnt want to stop messaging her, he was quiet like he was when he spoke. Thats what kept him from keeping a conversation with her. Although she said she didnt mind, it still felt like he could contribute more, if not for the rest of the club than at least he could talk more around those he trusted right? 

He trusted her

He stared up at his screen before shutting it off, a small smile forming on his face when he saw a picture of Haruhi, him, and Mitsukuni staring back. Her sweet smile letting him go to bed slightly happier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter! tell me what you think in the comments and thanks for reading so far :)


	15. Accusations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A later part of this is based off a certain iconic vine

"It's a pleasure to meet you" 

Haruhi gave the guest a polite smile, not knowing what else to say to the passive agressive girl. 

Without warning however she was wrapped in Tamaki's arms, hugging her tightly to his chest 

"THAT WAS SO CUTE HARUHI! YOUR HOSTING SKILLS ARE SO GOOD! YOU DID FANTASTIC! I'M SO PROUD!" 

"T-Tamaki Sama? I'm still here you know..." 

She wasnt going to help her escape, she made it obvious that she hated her. 

She desperately tried to escape the overly affectionate host, but his grip was too strong. She struggled against him, calling out to the nearest table to them. 

This club was already going to kill her and she wasnt even there for more than an hour 

Her eyes landed on Mori and Honey- Sempai, leaving her to her last resort. God knew Kyouya wasnt going to help her, and Hikaru and Kouru wouldnt either. 

"MORI SEMPAI! HELP!" 

'Hikaru and Kouru found out.....Kyouya-Sempai found out....Tamaki-Sempai found out....but that just leaves...' 

Haruhi's thoughts wandered while she worked, threatening to break her complete focus on the material. 

It started as a random question, supposed to have been given the least thought among everythign else she was paying attention to.

It still came up

Eventually the words came out of her mouth

"Hey Mori-Sempai? can I ask you something?" 

Honey and Mori looked up from their homework, Mori shut his book, handing over his full attention to her.

"hm" 

It was honestly a stupid question in her opinion, but she alwase wondered how they figured it out. She already knew Tamaki was the last to find out before the rest of the club. The twins figured it out when she asked them to get out while she changed into her uniform that first day, Kyouya once told her he had her information after she got to Ouran, but she was never sure about Honey and Mori Sempai. 

"How did you guys figure out I was a girl?" 

Honey was the first to answer with a sweet smile 

"You called Usa-chan cute, mostly girls use that word for her, everyone else wouldn't, like Takashi or Kyo-chan. Thats when she first found out too. "

Haruhi nodded and looked to Mori for his answer, instead receiving silence. 

His eyes were on the floor now, he was completely silent instead. 

He looked strangely....uncomfortable.....? 

She looked to Honey, he simply shrugged not knowing why either.

"Takashi? what's wrong? Dont you remember how you found out?" 

".....Mitsukuni....give us a minute if you will..." He muttered "This is a more private matter..." 

He kept his eyes down, the embarrassment and shame he brought to himself when he found out flooded back when he remembered the moment. 

He didnt apologize that day and he really should have. 

It was disrespectful and he didnt want to talk about it. 

She asked though. 

Honey shrugged "okay! I'm gonna go get some cake from the fridge! be right back!" 

He jumped down from Haruhi's bed where they were working, skipping out of the room while shutting the door behind him. 

Haruhi looked at Mori curiously, he was quiet. 

"Is something wrong....? How did you find out...? Did you accidentally see me changing or-" 

He shook his head, finally looking her in the eye. 

Haruhi's eyes widened when she noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. 

"Sempai...?" 

"I didn't tell Mitsukuni this....I never told anyone.....when Tamaki wouldnt let you go, when you called for help and I lifted you into the air, I accidentally felt your....."

How could he explain it? 

Haruhi's eyes widened 

Did she figure it out?

"Oh! that! I remember that, you saved me, I have to admit you lifted me pretty high. Maybe your just really tall and thats why it felt weird being so high up?" She laughed. 

"Haruhi" 

Her smile dropped when he gently grabbed her hands, suddenly bowing his head to her. 

"I'm sorry" 

She raised an eyebrow, leaning down to look at him

"Sorry? What are you sorry for?" 

"I touched you indecently. Your...chest is not where I should have put my hands to save you. I'm still ashamed...I'm sorry Haruhi" 

Haruhi was silent for a moment, before shocking him with another laugh. 

He looked up, stunned she wasnt upset. 

"Haruhi" 

"Sempai you dont need to appologize, it was an accident. Honestly having the twins poking at me all day and not saying sorry at all, you making an effort to appologize and acting like this? I should be thanking you" 

She have him a smile, squeezing his hands lightly. He smiled back.

"For a lot more than that" 

It was Friday afternoon before Haruhi finally went back to the host club. 

Things did change as for her however. 

She gained two new hosting partners instead of her usual individual act. 

She didnt know how long it would last but she didnt really mind, and apparently neither did her guests when they were informed. 

Before she arrived in the club room that day most of her guests even told her they were looking forward to seeing her again and they made sure to hint towards the gifts they left in her absence, consciously trying to out-do the other's 

Typical competitiveness

That wasnt the only new routine she was getting used to

The day after the incident with Hikaru she almost got trapped on the way out of the classroom. She was more than sure she wasnt ready to talk about things yet and tried to leave quickly. She failed. 

That is until Satoshi showed up at the door of her classroom, waving her over

She almost tripped running over and out the door that day. 

Since then he made sure to esscort her through the halls himself until his brother and Mitsukuni could do so themselves. 

It was a subtle arrangement but it worked, despite pissing off the twins to extreme extent. 

Mostly Hikaru for sure.

Her first day back in the host club started going wrong the instant she opened the door though, and as per usual Host club routine, it would get weird quick.

"What....in the actual hell....?"

"Hi Honey! How does daddy look? Guess who I am!" 

Haruhi stared at Tamaki for a moment, dumbfounded as he clipped the harness around his waist. The harness was tied to a pulley leading down from the ceiling. He was dressed in a familiar green costume, the childhood figure of eternal youth she remembered from her childhood too it's form as the biggest idiot in the host club

Tamaki was peter pan

Hikaru and Kouru were dressed as mermaid men

Finally, Kyouya was dressed as Captain hook, scribbling away at his clip board as normal despite the humiliating role. 

He looked up to the contraption

"I told them not to do it, they wouldnt listen"

"And you didnt think to stop them?"

"Let them learn a lesson, besides it's too late to change the theme anyways"

"We thought of the best way to sell our fantasy fairytale cosplay theme!" Hikaru exclaimed

"We tie the boss to a rope connected to the ceiling! and we let the girls pay for a turn to be lifted gracefully into the air by peter pan himself for a romantic flight through the air! They get a chance to be Wendy"

Tamaki nodded, pointing to the twins

"For once those perverted doubles used their powers of synchronized thought for good! this plan is actually brilliant!"

"We got the idea from the theater club, and we 'borrowed' some of their props from last year" Kouru explained. 

'there it is, they just wanted an excuse to mess with the theater kids again' Haruhi thought, solving her question to why the twins would give a crap about the theme for once.

They mess with the theater kids

And they get to tie Tamaki to the ceiling, presumably to leave him up there for the weekend knowing them.

"You might want to change into your costumes, you have five minutes before we open for buisness and we need you to help with the rope pulley as well so I'd hurry" Kyouya suggested, not looking up from his book while pointing towards the changing rooms. 

"What are we gonna be dressed as Kyo-chan?" Honey asked

"Honey-Sempai, you and Haruhi will be Wendy's brothers, Mori-Sempai we have you dressing as the younger brother's teddy bear, we sort of ran out of ideas I apologize" 

"Hm" 

Kyouya's way of being passive agressive: 

Giving him the more humiliating costume.

"Might as well end the week with a good dosage of humiliation..." Haruhi muttered with an irritated half smile. 

Mori nodded "Might as well" 

Honey grabbed her hand, rushing her into her designated dressing room before quickly shutting the curtain behind her.

"You ready boss? Here come the guests" Hikaru whisper shouted across the room.

The blonde gave a happy thumbs up, outstretching his arms as the doors to the clubroom opened and the girls began flooding in.

"Off to neverland!" he whispered back

"PULL!"

All at once the host club pulled the harness rope as hard as they could.

Tamaki was pulled up and forward into the air quicker than they had expected. Unfortunately they didnt quite plan how to stop him from going too high in time for the girls not to whitness what they did.

"WELCOME LADIES! I AM PETER P- WAIT! TOO FAST! TOO FA-"

Tamaki was suddenly slammed into the ceiling, a part of the ceiling fixture rocking back and forth violently after he hit the ground.

Everyone winced in second hand pain, letting go of the rope

They slowly walked over to him as he kept his face burried in the floor, groaning in pain

"Are you okay Tama-chan?" Honey yelled to the lump of pain on the ground in front of them.

"No....." 

Haruhi walked over, slowly helping the disney dressed idiot off the ground

SNAP

An ear piercing snap of wire breaking could be heard from the ceiling above them, catching everyone's attention. 

Their eyes all turned at once, widening in horror to find the ceiling chandelier quickly plummeting towards Tamaki and Haruhi 

"Haru-chan!" 

She didnt think before shoving Tamaki out of the way, instinctively bracing for the impact. 

She was expecting the crushing pain to hit her, her fifteen years of life so far flashed in front of her.

Learning how to cook in the kitchen with her mother

Watching old Disney movies with her dad on rainy nights 

Noticing her dad following her at the store and letting him join her 

Her first day of school at Ouran when her dad forced her to take pictures at the gates

Walking up those stairs

Into the third music room...

Breaking the vase....

Everything since that day....

Lead up to this....

Before she could shut her eyes and brace for the hit though she was suddenly pulled forward into a tight hug and tackled to the floor just as the chandelier shattered behind her. 

She felt instead like she just got hit with a ton of bricks

A...warm...ton of bricks....?

She slowly opened her eyes, her face flushing a deep crimson when she was face to face with Mori. He was holding himself on one of his arms so he couldnt crush her. 

His monotone expression was the same

"Are you okay Haruhi?" He muttered 

All she could do was nod

He paused for a moment before giving her a small smile

She was okay, she was safe, for a quick moment nothing else in the world mattered in the slightest. 

Haruhi mindlessly returned the smile

'smiling....Mori's smiling....it's a cute smile though....'

She blushed, looking sideways to avoid the soft grey eyes staring back. She couldnt process her strange thought in the few seconds she had to reply before the crowd suddenly erupted into squeals around them, they both stared back at eachother in realization at their current position.

"Oh my God!"

"Their faces are so close!"

"Haruhi's blushing as red as a tomato!"

"I ship it so much! He's Haruhi's hero! "

"You two should kiss!"

"I'd pay to see that!"

"Me too!"

"Boy love! so adorable!" 

They each blushed a deeper red before frantically shuffling away from eachother. 

She suddenly noticed it, and could only guess that the fact Mori was shirtless just made things ten times worse. 

She turned to the crowd of girls, standing up beside him "N-no! it was just an accident! He was just saving me! We arent gonna kiss!"

She couldnt believe she was actually having to explain that to a crowd of girls about Mori-Sempai of all people.

"Hm" he nodded "We're just friends" 

Mori felt his chest sting slightly, it felt like a drip of venom coursed into his throat. 

He looked down to Haruhi again

'Just...friends.....we're just....' 

Why couldnt he say it in his own thoughts at least? Why couldnt he help but hesitate on the word 'friend'? Of course she was his friend. 

Right?

Kyouya's eyes subtly narrowed at him, thankfuly not alerting any of their guests. 

He was the only one who noticed it.

"Are you okay Tama-chan?" Honey asked, helping the king off the floor. He nodded, limping over to a nearby couch. 

"Just a sprained ankle, I'll be alright" He looked to Kyouya. "We cant host today, we should start the theme fresh on Monday after the lighting is cleaned up over the weekend" 

Kyouya nodded, putting on his best host smile towards the crowd of fangirls. 

"I appologize for the inconvenience ladies, we will have to re-schedule our time together for Monday afternoon while our king recovers. Have a lovely weekend" 

While Honey and Kouru politely cleared out the girls, Once everyone was changed back into their uniforms for the day, Kyouya called a club discussion in the back of the room and out of ear-shot from any lingering guests. 

He had his attention turned strictly onto Haruhi and Mori 

He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose

"I assume you two know what was wrong with that scene today?" 

"The guests spend a lot of time near Renge too you know, most of those otaku's could just be because she put the boy love ideas in their heads" Kouru objected

"It's still risky for them to be too close after all of that, even if it was a simple accident." Hikaru spoke up, surprising Haruhi a bit.

His eyes narrowed at Mori

"You know how Ouran is, rumors spread like wildfire. Secrets never last long." 

Mori raised an eyebrow, a frenzy of questions coursed through his mind. 

What did he mean by that? and why did he say it to him?

"In any case, everyone in the club who isnt doing a brotherly love act like you and Kouru should learn from this and be more careful how they associate around one another, especially you Haruhi" 

Kyouya walked past her, grabbing his things before heading for the door to leave

"Your more at risk of revealing your secret if you arent careful" 

Mori sorted through his school bag, sorting out anything that may have been misplaced throughout the day. 

He held on to Haruhi's phone while she changed earlier and was trying to find it before he got into the car. 

The club room was silent. 

He was alone with his thoughts. 

Thoughts he bottled up from the conversation he had with Haruhi much too earlier too still concern him.

'such a pure person' 

'takes pity and shows kindness to those who dont deserve it...' 

'Your much more than you think Haruhi...' 

'you deserve so much more than I can give you....' 

'I dont deserve her friendship do I....?'

"Ahem!" 

Mori turned around to find Hikaru standing by the door, snapping him out of his thoughts for a moment.

"Hikaru" He acknowledged, turning back to his school bag.

Hikaru did a sarcastic slow clap, walking towards him

"That was some act back there, I'll admit, you sounded pretty convincing" 

Mori raised an eyebrow 

"Hm" 

"You know these little stunts your pulling lately? Let me give you a word of advice, if your gonna send someone to guard over Haruhi so we cant talk to her, you might not wanna make it your brother! I guess it makes sense that your trying to keep her away though right? You wouldnt want her to 'cause problems' if she were to tell the rest of the club something you were hiding"

Mori turned around, keeping his normal calm eye contact with the angry first year

What was he talking about?

He knew Satoshi would only do what he was telling him if Haruhi accepted the help at all. Apparently she did, so apparently she didnt want to talk to the twins. 

but why?

He continued the conversation, answering the questions he asked as simply as possible.

"Satoshi can make his own choices, if he needed to protect her from you two then he had a good reason for it" 

"Cut the shit! What are you doing to Haruhi! She's suddenly got a new phone! dont think I didnt notice! Your bribing her to keep quiet about something arent you!" Hikaru accused.

Mori's eyes narrowed for a split second before he tried to remain neutral. Anger began burning in his chest at the thought of subjecting her to something so pathetic.

"It wouldnt be because I was bribing her, I bought it so she could keep in touch with her father while he's gone. " 

"Oh that's a load of shit! Haruhi isnt here you dont need to keep up your stupid 'good guy' act you speechless freak! I want an answer! what did you do to her! Cause you and that little toddler you carry around are the only people she's been near for two weeks now! She's living with you, riding home with you, dont even try to bullshit me and say your just being a good guy here!" 

What answer was he looking for here? 

He assumed the obvious: Hikaru got the wrong idea after what happened earlier.

"Nothing happened in there Hikaru, I was just there at the right time and I needed to do what I had to. She could have gotten hurt. You have the wrong idea, Haruhi and I are-"

"What? just friends?! Dont pull that bullcrap on me!"

"I'm not pulling anything on you, I'm telling you the way it is. We are friends and friends is all we'll ever be"

"Oh really?! Please! just admit your after her as much as the rest of us! your not better than us so stop acting so high and mighty!"

He really didnt show any respect for her did he? 

Anyone who did wouldnt get angry at him for saving her from getting hurt. 

They were her friends, they should care about her enough to just be thankful she was okay

He needed to be taught a lesson if he kept up this way.

"Hikaru, I'm warning you, you need to control your anger"

"......You know what?" 

Hikaru stepped to him, poking him in the chest 

"Open your eyes you mumbling freak! your gonna leave at the end of this year! you and that cake loving brat! and when you do all you'll do is break her heart! I'll be there for her no matter what! I'll protect her! protect her like you never can or will! so just back off my-" 

Mori grabbed Hikaru by his lapels, in a swift motion he slammed the auburn-haired first year into the wall, holding him off the floor.

He watched his confident expression fall instantly into fear. 

He himself remained the same, making sure he heard every word he had to say. 

"Are you protecting her? Let me give you some advice, she isnt yours, she doesnt belong to you. She is all her own and she doesnt need protecting. You ruined her home and left her with nothing. That isnt protecting her, that's just hurting her. I'm gonna be there for her as long as she needs me, if it's a month or a year I dont care. Your acting like a spoiled child Hikaru, and that's what's going to ruin your friendship with her if you dont grow up soon"

He let Hikaru fall to the floor, offering him a hand to get up.

He quickly smacked it away, standing up on his own. He trudged towards the door

"take your advice and shove it!"

The slam of the doors echoed through the room

"Hm"

Mori frowned 

"I'm sorry Hikaru"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter, as usual I love reading the comments, so dont be afraid to tell me what ya'll think :)


	16. A night in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Renge and Honey knew something

"Why....?" 

Haruhi groaned in annoyance, re-reading the message sprawled across her phone screen

Read- 7:00 pm. March 21st. Friday. 

Renge: HI HARUHI! IT'S RENGE! I'M BORED! SO I DECIDED TO SEND OVER A CAR TO PICK YOU UP! WE'RE GONNA HAVE A SLEEPOVER TONIGHT, SO PACK YOUR BAGS! TTYL <3

Ever since Renge found out she was a girl, she started pulling spiratic stunts like this every couple of weeks or so. 

Mostly it was to get information on the other boys in the club, she'd sit her down for some 'girl talk' and ask as many questions about the hosts, mostly Kyouya, as she could

She never had many 'slumber parties' as a child, it was a habit of hers to make friends with the boys and even though her father didnt mind, she luckily never worried about them wanting to anyways. 

That is until the host club

Now including Renge. 

She couldnt help but go to them anyways though. Renge was a bit dramatic and out of her mind, maybe even oblivious. 

She could still keep a secret though, and wasnt as bad of a friend as she would appear to be. 

She surprised all of them when she did, and still manages, to keep her secret. 

Haruhi set her phone on her nightstand, sighing with a slightly annoyed smile. 

"Time for another all-night boy love anime marathon and being shoved into cosplays...." 

"Yay! Super-bunny saved princess Kitty from the evil snake king! it was so worth avoiding the spoilers!" 

A while into the night, Honey was bouncing with excitement, his stuffed bunny in it's own set of matching PJ's beside him. 

Mori sat on the other end of the couch, barely being able keeping his eyes open. 

After school Kendo practice felt more exhausting than usual

Maybe he was more tired lately, his sleep schedule was more unpredictable after than night he stayed up. Maybe he was tired from everything earlier. 

He couldnt really tell if he was being honest. 

He was just relieved Haruhi wasnt there while he was like this. 

He was thankful she was somewhere where she wouldn't get hurt either. She was with Renge. Despite knowing the other members of the host club for years, she and Mitsukuni were the ones he trusted most around her now. 

He didnt think he'd ever lose trust with the rest of the club.

He was honestly upset realizing it.

"Uh...Takashi..." 

Mitsukuni snapped him out of his thoughts, he turned to him

"Hm" 

"We're out of caramel corn again, can you go make more please? It's better when you make it for some reason" He held up the empty bowl, showing off the evidence. 

"Hm" 

He nodded, taking it and getting up from the couch

Maybe the beep of the microwave could keep him awake a little longer.

He prepared a bag of popcorn, carelessly stuffing it into the microwave as he leaned against the kitchen island to wait.

'I hope you having fun tonight Haruhi'

Renge didnt fly back to France every day since she started going to Ouran, so the few times Haruhi had went over she went to the apartment her father had rented for her. 

It was....large...for one teenage girl....to say the least. 

It was more of a penthouse....

With an entire two story bedroom filled with Manga...

"Haruhi!" 

Renge swung her door wide open, pulling Haruhi and her bag through before she could say anything. 

"Hey..." She muttered with a tired smile

"So glad your here! I was bored out of my mind! I just finished Niko Niko boys club romance and had nothing to do! sooooo!" 

Haruhi couldnt get a word out before she was ran through the familiar, anime boy portrait covered walls, and to the master bedroom. 

Renge's bedroom, much like expected was covered wall to wall with posters, consisting mostly of doki doki memorial. Primarily of Kyouya's for mentioned video game twin

Her shelves were stacked with figurines of the characters and her bed was stuffed with plushies of specifically that character. 

And....for some strange reason....a shirtless body pillow of said character.....

Her room design besides that was considerably normal, consisting of a white theme. 

White curtains, white bed sheets and white walls. Supposedly giving her room to express her fangirl hobbies without being distracted by any color. 

Haruhi's luggage remained in the living room, most likely not to be gotten back until it was time for bed. 

That is if Renge ever slept.

"You see Haruhi, I started a new anime about a school of boys who are all in a club, but they dont know what club activities they should do and mostly started it to impress girls but none wanted to join. The school is threatening to shut them down until a girl finally comes along and she's a total Otaku! She makes them dress up as cute cat boys to entertain the younger children at the school and save the club! By the end of the series all the boys end up falling for her and she ends up with her childhood best friend who's outfit is absolutely the cutest!" 

Haruhi blinked after the swift explanation

".....and why did you call me.....?" Was all she could get out, still processing half of the storyline she that was just shoved down her throat. 

She ran over to her queen-sized bed, rushing back with two outfits on hangers in hand. 

One of the outfits was purple, the other was dark blue

They were cat cosplays, consisting of thigh-high striped socks, corresponding colored uniform skirts, each color converse knee-high shoes, a large crop hoodie with giant sleeves, cat gloves with each color fur and black palms and claws, and finally, consisting sets of ears and matching colored tails.

Mother of God this girl was insane

"I wanna cosplay and binge the series again with you so I can finally have someone to talk about it with! The dark blue one is yours! and the purple is mine! I'm cosplaying as Rei Okonasai! My favorite bisexual with anger issues! He's a total Tsundere! and You will be Sora-chan! His little brother who totally ships him with his love interest and subtly tries to push them together!" 

"Uh-" 

"You'll love it! I promise! it's three seasons twenty episodes each so we might not sleep tonight but that's okay!" 

She rushed Haruhi towards her washroom, slamming the door behind her and the costume 

"I made sure to get your shoe size perfect so you should keep that costume! You'll look so cute!" She yelled through the door. 

"I'll go grab us some snacks! be right back!" 

Haruhi stared down at the outfit in her hands. 

She put on the ears, letting out a tired sigh

"This is gonna be a long night..." 

"AH! YOU LOOK SO CUTE! WE LOOK JUST LIKE THEM!" 

Renge squealed and pulled Haruhi to her side, linking their arms. She pulled out her phone 

"I need to take a picture for my cosplay blog! Smile and say your characters quote! 'I'm an Asexual panic attack waiting to happen!' on three!" 

Haruhi threw on a reluctant smile, trying to remember the quote on the dot. 

"uh....I'm an Asexual panic attack waiting to happen?" 

Renge snapped the picture of them, not noticing how quickly Haruhi dropped the smile. 

"I sent it to you too to do what you please with! After watching this anime you'll want a monument to the night you first watched the best anime of your life!" 

Haruhi looked at the picture for a moment. 

She hadn't gotten a chance to talk to Mori since club activities ended, the car ride home occupied her with Honey-Sempai getting her to watch a complaition of cute animals on his phone.

She wanted to thank him, not being sure if she already did or not. 

She wanted to make sure....

Maybe even find an excuse to talk to the stoic third year

This picture was a conversation starter for sure...

The rest of the club was eventually gonna find it, Renge would probably hand over anything Kyouya asked her to. 

If anyone was gonna see it on her accord though, she preferred Mori or Honey Sempai first. 

They'd keep it to themselves.

She pulled up her messages, typing out a quick caption for the picture before hitting send and setting it down on the nightstand

Mori's phone lit up in the semi dark living room, catching his attention out of the corner of his eye. 

"hm" 

He picked it up off the cushion beside him, pausing the movie in front of him and his cousin. 

"Takashi?" He asked "Why'd you pause it?" 

He scooted over to his side, leaning on his arm to look at whatever could have distracted him enough to pause the movie. 

He swiped up on the message just to be pleasantly surprised when Haruhi's name popped up on the screen. 

It was a picture. 

He shrugged, opening it just to end up nearly laughing when he found a slightly embarrassed Haruhi wearing dark blue pair of cat ears and a dark blue hoodie sleeve hanging over her cat paws with a small strained smile. 

The text underneath it read:

Haruhi: So...how's your night going so far? Cause this is what mine's gonna look like. Renge seems happy with herself for this

Honey gasped, smiling in awe

"Haru-chan's dressed like a kitty! She and Ren-chan look so cute!" 

Mori chuckled at the message, typing out a reply. 

The thing that stood out most in the picture was her awkward smile. Even though he could tell she was just smiling to please Renge, any smile of her's was beautiful

He blushed, going back to type out a response

Mori-Sempai: Mine is fine, I'm looking forward to going to sleep though. You look very cute by the way

Honey frowned, lightly slapping his shoulder

"Takashi! why haven't you been sleeping!" He scolded

Thats the thing he was scolding him about? 

........

The phone went off again

Haruhi: Looks like you need the sleep, how many hours did you sleep last night?

"Yeah! how many!" Honey asked. 

.......

Mori-Sempai: You'll be mad if I tell you, Mitsukuni already is

He told her he'd get more sleep, and since then he did anything but. He just realized lately that he broke a promise to Haruhi. He hated it.

Haruhi: If it's below Eight or more I will hit you with a pillow I swear!

Haruhi sighed, slipping the crop hoodie over her head before grabbing her phone for a reply.

"Oh my god...what am I doing?" 

Mori-Sempai: Shouldn't be talking here kitten

Mori frowned 

Kitten? 

Really? 

"Haruhi for your sake, please hang up on me right now and let me sleep....." He muttered quietly, half praying she would so he couldn't keep embarrassing himself

Haruhi blushed slightly, deciding to joke with him a bit

Haruhi: Is that a new nickname I see? Not bad... Tiger-shi :)

Mori's face flushed bright red, earning a smirk from Mitsukuni when he looked back. 

"Say yes, that nickname sounds so cute for Haru-chan!" He pleaded.

Mori typed out the reply

Mori-Sempai: Well if your gonna call me that, I wouldnt mind returning the favor

"Put a smiley face like she did!" 

Mori hesitantly typed out another message, and for the first time in his life

He used an emoticon

Mori-Sempai: Kitten :)

"Mitsukuni, never make me do that again" He pinched the bridge of his nose in suppressed embarrassment

Haruhi: Hi Honey-Sempai, thanks for making it clear your there too

Honey grabbed the phone, replying now that he was acknowledged

Mori-Sempai: Hey Haru-chan! You look cute as a Kitty!

Haruhi: Thank you Sempai

"I got the seasons set up! Ready to watch?" Renge exclaimed, waving the remote in the air. Haruhi sighed, typing out a quick goodbye before setting her phone down again. 

Haruhi: I have to go, I'll see you guys tomorrow okay? Goodnight

Mori-Sempai: Goodnight Haruhi

"Ah! Daiki! I-I'm a little high up in the air! C-can you put me down now?" 

"Sorry" 

Haruhi watched the boy on the screen set the girl on her feet gently, the camera turned to her sweet smile

"Thanks...for saving me..." 

The boy nodded 

"No problem" 

He brushed a strand of hair out of the girls face and behind her ear, placing a hand on her head. She watched them both blush at one another

Renge Squealed at the scene

"So cute! I love this ship so much! It's definantly my second favorite! What do you think Haruhi?......Haruhi?" 

Haruhi found her eyes glued to the specific scene showing in front of her. 

She didn't know why 

But the boy on the screen, his personality towards the main girl was....familiar...

Renge had told her that they were the main ship in the series, but not more than that. 

The boy didnt have many lines, he was very quiet around everyone in the club except for the main girl. The girl was afraid of mice, and the club room in the show had a terrible problem with them.

The other club members didnt care but she would fully hop up onto a table and scream 

Thus, the boy would end up saving her 

That was their relationship arc

'He reminds me of-' 

The memory of what happened earlier that day flashed through her mind

The snap of the wires, letting the chandelier fall

Her life flashed before her eyes 

The sudden blunt force tacking her to the floor and saving her life

Realizing that force was him

Seeing him smile...

She blushed, letting herself re-live the image that gave her joy before all hell broke loose. 

This didnt go un-noticed however

"Your blushing at Daiki~?"

Renge's teasing tone when she asked that snapped her back

"Huh-"

"You can call dibs on him as your Anime hubby I dont mind! Your lucky cause I would have kicked the crap out of you if you fell for Akira! He's mine! I have an open marriage with my forever hubby Miyabi! We worked it out and we're happy with my decision" 

Haruhi slightly flushed, declining the 'offer' quickly

"Um...actually no.....he just....reminds me of someone I know...." 

Bad idea

Why did she say that? To Renge of all people?

Renge's eyes widened. She let out a high pitched squeal, shutting off the television.

"I've been waiting for this moment!" 

She grabbed Haruhi's shoulders, sitting her up in a criss cross position, grabbing her pillow to her chest to do the same. She threw a pillow to her as well.

"Alright! go! Tell me who stole your heart before I take a guess! I've been dying to ship you with someone! I could write my own Anime if I knew who to ship you with! real life material!" 

Haruhi tried to object to the idea

"I'm fine Renge, really I dont need you to-"

"So let's look at his traits so I can determine who matches with him in real life? Let's see: Daiki is the bodyguard of the group, he keeps everyone from harms way. However, he is very quiet, and doesnt like talking. Except of course to his family, their the only ones who are close enough to him to have a conversation at all. He's obviously the stoic one of the group! Why would you choose someone so quiet as an anime husband you could never hold a conversation!" 

Haruhi shook her head

"Renge, theres more to a person than the ability to keep conversation. Emotional support can be given without saying something comforting...." 

Renge frowned 

"But he never says anything! He's practically Mori Se-" 

"oh my gosh!" 

She gasped, whispering the last part in realization

"Do you actually have feelings for.... Mori-Sempai?" 

Haruhi flushed, a sudden sense of panic hit her at the accusation

"Renge!" 

"Well look at the similarities Haruhi! How could I not see it before?! He and Daiki are basically doppelgangers! Look at the signs! Your got tackled by him! as far as I know he cares about you enough not to let you get crushed by a chandelier! He saved your life!" 

She then smirked, causing a shot of worry and panic to go up Haruhi's spine. 

"Must have been nice getting tackled by the 'strong' silent type when he wasnt wearing a shirt right~?" She teased.

Haruhi's face flushed even redder at the thought now burrowing it's self into her brain.

"N-No it isnt like that!" 

"What about how he's protecting you from the twins and Tamaki? You've been hosting with him and Honey-Sempai instead of on your own like normal right?" 

"Um...yeah? but what does-" 

"Then theres the time he pinned Hikaru to a wall defending you, he did the same to Tamaki, He calls you by your name, and in the one-shot fanfictions I've written about the host club he is protective to only two people like he is in real life. You and Honey-Sempai" 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at the last part

"Wait, fanfictions?" 

Renge paused for a moment, brushing it off

"Anyways, it seems like you and him have some kind of romantic connection either way. Come on Haruhi! I consider us friends! Your my favorite host! You can trust me not to tell anyone! I promise!" 

She stared at Renge for a moment before shutting her eyes, digging her fingers into the sheets.

She couldnt deny she blushed more than she ever did in her life when she was around him. 

She couldnt say she didnt think about calling instead of texting him earlier because she wanted to hear his voice, although it was definantly a thought she burried deep down for a long time before that. 

She worried for him

She depended on him before anyone else in the club

He was the only one there who treated her like a friend instead of a toy or a servant or just someone who owes the club money. 

She got to know him more, and was more than grateful to have the opportunity

.......

Was she really admitting this to herself and Renge?

"I...." 

She let out a breath 

'You hold far more beauty than I do Haruhi'

'It's not a waste if it's you' 

'I wont let anything hurt you'

'Your hair looks cute the way it is though' 

'probably missed that laugh as much as the rest of us do'

'Are you okay Haruhi?'

"I...do..."

Her eyes widened saying it out loud

She said it again in shock

"I....have feelings for Mori-Sempai...."

Renge squealed again, eyes practically sparkling.

"Thats great Haruhi! No you just have to-"

"He doesnt feel the same though..." 

She sighed, admiting the truth to herself to try and shatter the foolish illusion she almost wanted to let herself build

".....It doesnt matter...I dont think he feels the same.....it would be better if we stayed friends...I learned a long time ago from the last girl who tried.....his heart belongs to Honey-Sempai...So theres no room to be anything more to him than his friend....." 

"I wish she didnt message me" 

Honey raised an eyebrow at Mori, confusion painted his expression. He had been completely silent since she signed off, throughout the movie, and now that they were washing their dishes.

He turned off the sink 

"But...dont you like Haru-chan?" 

Mori kept his eyes on the floor

"She is our friend, Mitsukuni, of course I like her. I just would have preferred she didn't talk to me when I'm sleep deprived anymore. I say things I shouldn't even think about her." 

Honey's eyes narrowed, he grabbed his cousin by the shoulders, bringing him face to face.

"You know what I mean Takashi! Do you like-like her? Like Tama-chan 'likes' the girls! Or a Husband likes a Wife! No one's gonna hear you, and I wont tell anyone if you admit it. Do. You. Have. Feelings. For. Haru-chan?" 

'Theres no need for you to apologize' 

'It was the sweetest thing you guys ever did' 

'Haru-chan was staring at the door waiting for you'

'Stay......warm...soft......tiger...stay......'

'I should be thanking you....for a lot more than that' 

'Get some sleep'

'Your a good friend Sempai'

"Yes..." 

He frowned 

He shouldnt be saying it, but he couldnt stop the words from coming out his mouth

"I have feelings for Haruhi, but you know she will never return them. Her heart is meant for someone else. Someone who deserves her. I am not entitled to her because I am her friend. No one else in the club was, so neither am I" 

Honey huffed, crossing his arms.

"First of all Mom and Dad owe me and aunt Mayu a thousand yen, second of all I know none of us are entitled to her, but that doesnt mean you dont deserve her! I can give you Eight reasons why that isnt true!" 

Mori's eyes narrowed. He looked up to his cousin.

What did he mean they owed him money?

"Mitsukuni, what did you bet for" 

"Well aunt Mayu found you beside Haru-chan's bed early that morning when she noticed your room was empty at Three AM and asked me if you two were together! She asked after practice though the next day when I had to stay late and Dad over-heard and told Mom. Mom didnt think you would ever admit it to yourself, Dad agreed, and me and aunt Mayu suspected it so we bet on it. I won!"

Mori's eyes widened 

Everyone in that house knew about it?

He brushed that away, wanting to deal with that last on the list of things his cousin just said.

First on the list, he doubted he knew his relationship with Haruhi well enough to have eight reasons why she would ever want him.

"What are your reasons Mitsukuni" He relented with nothing to lose by hearing them.

He asked anyways, sure they were all the generic 'they were great friends' excuse.

"I have eight main reasons. Tama-chan, Kyo-chan, Hika-chan, Kou-chan, Neka-chan, Ritsu-chan, Ren-chan, and finally me. Tama-chan is wasting his opportunity's and will never catch up, Kyo-chan is never getting near her again if I have anything to do with it, Hika-chan and Kou-chan arent grown up enough yet and need to mature, Neka-chan has his cat puppet, Ritsu-chan already got friend-zoned, Ren-chan's heart belongs to a fictional character, and I'm her big sister" 

He motioned to him with an exited smile

"Look who we have left! It's you Takashi!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As usual tell me what ya'll think in the comments!


	17. Cat and Mice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new side to Mori Haruhi didnt know existed

"She's been like this all day, The driver said she fell asleep in the limo on the way so I put her here this morning" 

Mori stared down at Haruhi, almost feeling sorry for her fragile state. 

The bags under her eyes were clear as day, the state of her eyes in general looked better over the week, now prompting him to notice. It made him smile slightly.

She was clinging to the throw blanket he guessed Satoshi threw over her like it was a life preserver.

Satoshi looked at his brother

"Renge said she didnt sleep at all last night when I asked, but she was awake when she got into the limo. For some reason Renge was dressed as a cat though...." 

"Dont ask" He muttered "trust me" 

Renge was a total mystery, so when he saw the night prior that she made Haruhi cosplay he didnt even wanna guess what her reason was. 

"I feel like she's either really crazy, or girls sleepovers are just really chaotic..."

"The first one, good guess" He replied. 

Satoshi leaned against the couch 

"Well I'll watch her for a little longer, you can go change out of your dojo cloths and shower up real quick before taking my place. I'm supposed to go grab lunch with mom, Satoshi, Mitsukuni, and aunt Akemi. You can come with if you want, I'm sure she'd be fine here if we left her for an hour or two" 

"I'm fine" 

Mori walked towards the hall towards his room leaving him in silence.

Satoshi looked back down to Haruhi curiously

"You'll never have any idea how much he's wrapped around your finger will you?" 

He smiled at the oblivious girl while she slept

"He left his morning training routine cause I said your name Haruhi, Mitsukuni is the only one in this world who probably ever held that power...then you came into his life....just take care of him please...."

He turned back to look at her one last time before walking away

"Mitsukuni is gonna stall and give you a whole day to figure out just how wrapped around your finger he really is, don't waste the opportunity to be alone with him...looks like you both really need it...." 

Mori quietly stepped back into the living room, a wave of relief washed over him to see Haruhi still sleeping soundly. 

He tussled his hair with the towel in his hand, walking over to the fridge to grab a drink. 

He guessed he was either in the shower for a while, or Satoshi and the others had left shortly after he went. 

Either way the house was so silent you could hear a pin drop. 

It relaxed him, silence was meant to be his friend. 

The sun shining through the large living room windows was the only light, Satoshi had left the lights off, presumably to let her sleep in peace. 

Sunday was alwase the entire estate's 'off' day, the two families would be more relaxed on this day and use it to catch up on whatever they wished.

The few servants they did have for menial gardening or other chores they just didnt get to, had Sunday off as well. 

He shut the fridge, opening the water he chose. 

He took a drink, looking up to the clock in the kitchen. 

11:45

He looked back to Haruhi, walking over and sitting down on the chair beside the couch she slept on.

He had feelings for her, he actually had feelings for her. He couldn't believe he said it to himself. 

He didn't expect it to happen, for her to unlock feelings of anything more than almost sisterly affection for her. Since she showed up that first day to the host club he had an instinct, a new instinct to protect her and keep her safe. He didnt know why but it felt....right. It felt almost natural to want to keep her safe. 

The only one by his side when Mitsukuni got swept away at the jungle pool resort was her, throughout the entire ordeal she was there and stayed by his side until he found his cousin. 

When the cop grabbed her arm to rip her away, the yell she let out sent a spike of rage through his body and he acted on it without hesitation. 

He let her name slip durring that time as well

It startled him when he found it rolling off his tounge so naturally. She never complained so he kept calling her that way since. 

When they dressed her up and put makeup on her to confront princess Kanako's fiance, he remembered the blush he wore when she walked out of the dressing room looking the way she did. 

Out of the entire ballroom filled with the pretty ladies of Ouran in dresses made of the finest material their families money could buy, Haruhi outstood all of them, at least to him. 

They were friends for a while, and he recognized it wasnt his normal friendship like he had with the other members of the host club. 

He never thought to recognize it as something more than friendship.

He wanted something he was sure he'd never get in his entire life. 

He wanted the satisfaction of seeing her messy brown hair sweep over her tired eyes in the morning. To be lying beside her in the first place to see it. 

He wanted to see her with his hoodie drowning her small frame, her small hands barely poking through the sleves. 

To hold her to his chest like he did in the car

To hold her soft hands again if she would let him

To tell her she was safe with him

He wanted to make her smile, make her happy if she would choose him. 

It was an unrealistic fantasy though

No matter how many reasons Mitsukuni claimed for him, or how long he was her friend, he'd never step over any boundary she had. Trying to go farther than friendship was part of that. 

If he stayed her friend forever, he should be just fine with it as long as he's in her life at all. 

"Mm....M...Mori-Sempai.....?" 

Mori's eyes instantly darted to his side where Haruhi was now sat up, letting out a small yawn that made his heart flutter. 

"Hm" he nodded "Your awake" 

She nodded, giving him a tired smile 

"yeah...I remember falling asleep in the limo on the way here.....how did I get onto the couch if you know?" 

"Satoshi says our driver told him you fell asleep, so he brought you in and then told me" 

She nodded 

"Hey...do you know where my stuff is by any chance though? I dont wanna miss a call from my dad he might worry..." 

"Your phone didnt go off, your bag is behind you on the floor" he replied, getting up from his seat. 

"thanks..." 

She reached back, rummaging through her bag for a second before finding it. She turned it on, surprised the battery had lasted this long since she last charged it. She opened it, looking over some of her meaningless notifications. 

Mori walked into the kitchen, not causing any alarm while turning on the stove and grabbing a pot and going to look through the cupboard.

"What are you doing?" 

He looked back

"Are you hungry Haruhi" 

She nodded hesitantly, despite her stomach aching from the emptiness of a 17 hour fast. 

"Kinda....when Renge says 'snacks' at our sleepovers, that usually means a bunch of energy drinks flavored like a unicorn threw up seven different types of candy into a can..." 

He nodded, turning back to the stove while she turned back to her phone. 

Her notification bar had been packed for the last few days, swarming with ignored messages from the twins. She didnt want to talk to them for a while, she needed time to process what they did, what they lied to her about. 

She swiped away all of them, not giving it a second thought anymore. 

They were just gonna have to wait

Cause she wasnt entirely sure they were her friends anymore.

"I made ramen, I thought you may have slept through breakfast"

It wasn't even an hour before he pulled her out of her phone screen again, setting a bowl of noodles in front of her on the coffee table. 

Her eyes widened when she realized he was correct, finally checking the time on her phone

"Yeah...thanks..." 

She began eating, not wanting to leave her thoughts just yet. It felt strangely awkward talking to him or looking him straight in the eyes now that she remembered

She admitted to herself that she had feelings for him

She had expected it

A part of her did at least

For a long time he had caught her attention before the rest of the club would if he was doing something abnormal. 

She never acknowledged the part of her until last night. 

She knew she wanted something between them that she would never get no matter how hard she wanted it. 

She wanted him to be there before anyone else during a storm

She wanted his arms around her before anyone else 

She wanted the moments of silence between them to happen more often, the comforting moments between them that she rarely got

She wanted to wake up more often and see his tired eyes looking back

The image of that tired smile made her smile herself thinking about it again.

She would never get any of those things from him, she had to stop waiting for it.

"What do you want to do today Haruhi" 

Once again he had snapped her out of her thoughts

If she was being honest, she was done going ANYWHERE besides school and back for a while. She'd been dragged around a lot already and it was taking it's toll. 

"Well...I like where we are now....if it's okay I kinda wanna take the day off and hang out with you.. we dont seem to really hang out just you and me often" she confessed, almost embarrassed to take up his day.

"Okay" he replied, slightly surprising her "

"So do you-huh?" 

Haruhi stopped, surprised when there was a small pull at her pantleg. She looked down to find a small black cat that was almost blended into the dark benieth the small table. It sat there for a moment before hopping up to sit it's self beside her. 

Haruhi let out a small giggle, setting her bowl on the coffee table in front of her

"And who's this?" 

He set his bowl down as well

"Kyomi" Mori motioned to the cat in a warning tone.

He picked her up, setting her back on the floor

"Don't beg for food, your guest bowl is in the kitchen." 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow 

"I didnt know you had a cat" 

"She's my family's cat. My mother and father bought her together on their last anniversary. She was supposed to stay home but she came over here, probably looking for Satoshi or more food"

Haruhi pet the feline, giving Mori a curious smile

"So do you like cats too Sempai?"

"I don't have an opinion" He looked at the cat, petting her gently "She's more quiet than a dog would have been, but she's a threat to the pets I keep"

"Oh? what kind of pets?" she asked, even more curious now. 

Before she knew it Mori had lead her to his room. 

The design didnt surprise her in the slightest for someone like him. 

The color scheme of his bed was a simple dark grey and black that matched his curtains. 

His study desk was kept tidy, with only his laptop, a pencil case, and a lamp taking up it's space. 

He had a shelf above it that held a few trophies which she could assume was for martial arts and were won in only the last few months. He didnt fully live on the property but since he was here frequent enough he had to find a place to put things. 

He shut the door behind her, leading her over to the other side of the room.

Haruhi then noticed a certain cage beside the window sitting on the edge of the desk. It had small loops of tubing running out of it, obviously a hamster or some sort of rodent cage.

"mice" he answered her question once again before she could ask it.

Haruhi smiled, curiously taking a look.

"So what's it's name?"

"Their names are Momo and Sora, Momo's a boy and Sora's a girl"

"Momo and Sora? aww such sweet names"

He nodded again, he lifted the door of the cage, gently taking one of the mice out. It was a small white mouse with a small black blemish on it's back.

"Sora"

He held it to Haruhi, nodding to ask if she wanted to pet the small rodent.

She held out her hand for the rodent to crawl onto, laughing slightly as it's little feet trailed up her arm.

"I used to have a pet rat I found in the cupboard when I was five, before I figured out what rabies were, my dad hated it he was so scared. I named him crackers cause thats the main packaging he alwase rummaged into"

She lowered her eyes to meet the mouse, lightly petting her.

"Hi Sora, nice to meet you"

Mori smiled and reached back into the cage, taking out the other mouse.

This one was all white as well with two or three blemishes to it's fur.

"Momo is her brother, he makes trouble" he explained.

Haruhi raised an eyebrow "What do you mean? how can something this cute cause trouble?" She laughed, looking at the mouse on her arm.

"Bites at Sora, steals her food sometimes"

"Sibling rivalry huh?" She joked

"Not in front of Mitsukuni or anyone else, they behave in front of strangers"

He set Momo on Haruhi's arm in front of his sister. He acted like normal, crawling up and down her arm with his sister.

"huh, almost like human siblings. When we put them back into the cage he'll start being mean again?"

He nodded, picking them both up. He set them back into their cage, shutting it.

"Like I said, Kyomi is their biggest threat. She jumps up on the desk sometimes and paws at the cage to try and get them" 

Haruhi let out a small laugh again, causing him to smile.

"Natural enemies" 

"Hm" he nodded, looking back down at her. 

He was silent again, taking a moment to look over her face. 

Her eye was healing more and more day by day. He was starting to see more of the white her eye used to be, as well as the swelling and bruising had significantly gone down enough to see them almost as normal again. 

He put a hand on her cheek, getting a better look. 

He was still tired, and his training that morning didnt help despite him getting sleep the night prior. 

"Your eye is looking better" He told her. 

He smiled, pulling his hand away as naturally as he could.

"It doesnt hurt so much anymore does it" 

She nodded, keeping eye contact with him. 

"It doesnt....thanks for caring though....." 

"UGH! I ACCIDENTALLY GOT WASABI STUCK IN MY THROAT! AGH IT BURNS!" 

Tamaki began hacking violently, searching frantically for a drink or anything to sooth his burning throat. His eyes welled with tears. 

Kyouya continued eating his food while doing paperwork.

He didnt look up to speak to the half-wit

"I told you to get a glass of milk while we were in the kitchen, you know you cant handle spicy foods Tamaki, but what did you do? you did it anyways, so this is your own fault. Go grab a drink and be quiet so I can study please?"

Tamaki got up, speaking through rasps and gasps for air

"I'll just grab one from the minifridge up stairs...." 

Kyouya waved him away mindlessly

"Dont touch anything" 

Tamaki had invaded his room that afternoon to hang out, but as usual he stuck himself into his studies instead, letting the blonde be a harmless idiot for the familiar background noise he provided.

The room was silent for a moment, he heard his friend climb the stairs to the levle of his room that held his bed, in the corner of the off-room there was a mini-fridge he barely payed attention to. 

He heard Tamaki swing open the fridge, take out something, then slam it shut followed by frantic drinking. Surely he spilled something on his carpet with doing that. 

He heard the blonde walk a few more footsteps towards the stairs again before they halted. 

There was more silence for a moment before his familiar voice called down the stairs, his footsteps echoed on them.

"Hey...Kyouya....?" 

The raven-haired boy didn't bother to look over, despite being a bit surprised that he didnt call him 'mommy' or just 'Kyo'

"Yes?" 

There was a sudden slam on the table in front of him. 

The familiar zip up bag filled with the lose wires and the red plastic that used to be Haruhi's phone still contained inside. 

It had been sitting on his nightstand

He looked up to see a look on Tamaki's face he thought he'd never see from him

Pure rage

The blonde glared at him

"Why do you have this?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope Ya'll liked this chapter! as usual tell me what you think in the comments :)


	18. According to plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mori once again is at the will of his own sleep schedule.

"Tamaki-" 

"Why do you have Haruhi's phone? and why is it broken to pieces?!"

He stood up, grabbing the bag. He gave his friend a warning smile

Why didn't he think to hide it before the idiot came over? 

'No matter' he thought 'I can save this, he doesnt need to know what's going on. He just needs to worry about living in ignorance for as long as he can'

"I told you not to touch anything, but if you must know I'm working on recovering a few files from the microchips for her. She asked me to help her seeing as I have all of the school's technical data, as well as the technology available, to help her find everything she lost" 

Technically he wasnt lying completely. He was trying to find the chips to get some photo's she may have had. 

They could definantly be useful

Tamaki nodded hesitantly 

"Then....how DID she break it...? Haruhi is alwase so careful...." 

How did she break it? 

Depends on who could've broken it that would give him an advantage 

Hikaru and Kouru were harmless for now, sure they were morons but they didnt threaten his plans. 

He could twist it onto anyone he wanted. 

He just had to consider his biggest threat 

or Threats?

"A simple mistake, she said it broke when she was taking some kendo lessons with Mori-Sempai and she forgot she had it in her pocket. When the loaner uniform he gave her to use got put in the dryer it was destroyed and she only found out after the fact" 

He knew it worked immediately

"She's....wearing his cloths....?" 

An idea suddenly popped to mind. That sentence was just too perfect not to use.

He raised an eyebrow at his friend, almost looking confused "Tamaki, she's been living with Honey-Sempai for two weeks now, dont tell me you haven't noticed a lot more than that between them?" 

He nearly smiled with pride in himself when the blonde's eyes softened in realization and curiosity that was inevitable for him. 

"I-I haven't.....what else haven't I noticed....?"

The next day Haruhi attended the host club alone. Mori and Honey were off to a martial arts tournament and she wouldn't see them till later. 

They did make sure to keep her in stable hands though 

She realized that when Kasanoda was standing at the doors of the host club requesting to sit with her that day. 

Hikaru DID say just Takashi's brother was suspicious so Honey knew his would be as well. So why not send someone just as capable?

Ever since Kasanoda started being an occasional costumer of hers, a few other boys dared to request the hosts as well so it was no longer awkward to whiteness him in the club room.

He didnt mind keeping an eye on her one bit, especially from the twins after seeing how uncomfortable she looked around them from her normal annoyance in their class. 

Besides, what Takashi didnt know couldn't hurt him. Honey knew when his cousin was worried even though he didnt show it, and didnt mind sending someone to keep things calm in the host club. 

For extra measure though, just in case the twins thought they would trap her in a limo alone again, she would be esscorted home with him that day as well. 

It was mostly Kasanoda keeping the conversation going throughout the ride, mindlessly going over the highlights of his day prior while she listened, doing a small portion of her daily work in the hour drive to the estate.

"So Tetsuya accidentally kicked the idiot in the face when he went to pick up the soda can and even in damn sandals he still gave him a bloody nose. It was funny as hell, like the guy can handle a crowbar to the knee but the minute a hippie kicks you in the face you turn into a weak ass pansy?" 

Haruhi raised an eyebrow, looking up from her homework for a moment to reply

"You guys have pretty high standards for injury...." 

"Well you got socked in the face and you didnt cry did you? Your...well....not trying to sound sexist here but the other girls at Ouran will flinch at a paper ball if you throw it right, not that I'm speaking from personal experience or anything cause they wouldn't shut the hell up and let me sleep I mean" 

Haruhi sighed to herself

"That was preventable honestly....I should have stood up more and told them to stop" 

"If you want" He cracked his knuckles with a concerning smile. His eyes narrowed at the thought "I can teach you a few ways to make them stop" 

"No no no no no! I'm fine!" She reached over, un-raveling his fingers "Mori and Honey Sempai are already giving me self defense tips" 

"Oh? You got some good teachers then, rumor says those two are considered lethal weapons or something. You think it's bullshit?" 

"I mean..." Haruhi's mind flashed to what had happened that day at the jungle pool with the blonde loli boy and those officers 

"I've seen Honey-Sempai.....and it honestly isnt too unbelievable...." She shrugged "But Mori-Sempai is a mystery, I think he is as well though...being honest, theres a lot of things I learned about both of them that I didn't know..." 

The red-head raised an eyebrow when she smiled, her cheeks went slightly pink 

"Yeah? like what?" 

"Their both really good friends....since I started staying there I've had a chance to really get to be their friend...actual friends....not just the weird definition of 'friends' I am with the twins or the 'daughter' I am to Tamaki-Sempai...." 

"Arent we friends?" he asked, slightly confused

"Of course we are, but that's my point. You treat me like an actual friend, our friendship is genuine. I know my friendship with Honey and Mori-Sempai is real because I use ours as reference" 

'Christ please dont say that word again...' He thought. 

"Especially Mori-Sempai..." she said, snapping his attention back. She was even redder. 

"What do yo mean?" 

"He's making things so much easier for me after everything happening....I feel like I've gotten more than a sentence or two out of him and I feel like we've connected a bit..." 

She smiled, almost looking like she was saying it to herself instead. She didnt notice the fact that she was saying more than she'd normally tell any of even her closest friends about her feelings towards someone who wasn't in the room.

"He makes me feel....safe..." 

His eyes widened at the last word. 

Safe?

'Shit....do I not make her feel like that?' 

"Hey uh...you feel safe around me though right?" 

She nodded 

"Yeah, sure. I dont really agree with breaking someone's teeth on the street curb though, that isnt being safe that's a reason to go to anger management"

'Why weren't you pissed about that? Your the one that prick cut in front of in the lunch line....not my fault shit escalated...' 

He let out a small sigh of relief that she still felt safe with him, smiling.

"So he makes you feel safe? Sounds like some girly romance novel, What you got the hots for him or something? " he joked, not thinking about what he had said.

"I..." 

He looked back to her instantly knowing he fucked up, more importantly realizing the implication made her face redder than his hair now. 

"Oh shit...I'm sorry Haruhi I was just j-"

She looked down at the floor of the limo in embarrassment 

"You...technically weren't wrong though......I trust you at least as much or even more than I trust Renge and I told her....I...have feelings for Mori-Sempai....."

Despite feeling his heart suddenly shatter into thousands of pieces, he summoned up the focus to consider how she felt, and how brave she was to actually tell him that

She trusted him

He processed the confession for a moment

"Damn...I thought it was kinda weird that Suoh or one of those other dumbasses didnt take you to their houses, I see you ride home with him and that cake-loving kid. He seemed pretty pissed after you got that shiner and he keeps you at his right side. How the hell didn't I figure that you two had something going on?" 

Haruhi blushed 

" I said I have feelings for him....we arent together....." 

Ritsu paused for a moment before raising an eyebrow

"Lemme guess, it's got something to do with the cake-loving kid right? I believe in watching out for family but Christ Morinozuka needs to get a life besides that doesnt he?" 

He sighed, cracking his knuckles without hesitation of thought.

"Want me to scare the little shit into backing off a bit for you?" 

"Absolutely not!" Haruhi warned "Honey-Sempai is very sweet and you wont be scaring him anytime soon! are we clear?" 

He rolled his eyes with a dry laugh 

"Okay MOM-OW!" 

Haruhi smacked his hands hard, causing him to wince away

"I'm serious! No threatening anyone! I'm gonna sign you up for anger management classes one day I swear!" 

He sighed 

"You know, one day your gonna have to let someone take care of shit like this for you right? You cant be so independent all the time, sometimes you have to let me or even Morinozuka scare the hell out of someone" 

She frowned at him

"You can't go around beating people up just because they cause a small inconvenience in my life, if that were the case half the host club wouldve been beaten to a pulp a long time ago. I can take care of my own problems with people, besides I dont want my friends being scared to anger me or upset me like some kind of ticking time bomb" 

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose 

"Your gonna be that stubborn forever huh?" 

"I admit that the twins or Tamaki and Kyouya Sempai get under my skin sometimes, but I can handle my own issues with them without causing problems for myself in the process"

"Why do you care what four eyes or those ginger pricks think though if they piss you off all the time? Not like they got you on a chain or some shit! Call their asses out!" 

She sighed, explaining once again to yet another person who asked why she hasnt called them out and left yet.

"I owe them a debt that I cant see myself re-paying until I graduate, Kyouya-Sempai told me he'd send his family's special police force after me if I tried to get out of paying" 

He was silent for a moment before raising an eyebrow, as if confused by the truth he'd been told at least several times before when he asked.

"So you just pretty much forget I'm the son, and the next leader of a Yakuza syndicate? You think I still give a damn about cops at this point?" He half chuckled, eyes darkening slightly "You wear one cat outfit and suddenly people think your going soft....damn ginger bastards..." 

He looked her straight in the eye with determination, putting a hand on her shoulder

"Just leave Ootori and anyone else who's messing with you to me alright? You helped me at Ouran, so we're square got it?" 

"We're back!" 

Haruhi had been studying in her room for a few hours since she got back before Honey and Mori got home. It was dark outside her window, her eyes hurt slightly when she adjusted them from her desk lamp to the light of the hallway.

Honey came bouncing through her door, a medal slinged around his neck, one similar to it was around Mori's.

" I won first place in Judo and Takashi won first place in Kendo! I'm so proud of him!"

"Hm" Mori nodded, as if the award didn't confirm the information

She gave them a tired smile, rubbing her eyes 

"That's great guys, I'm proud of you two" 

"Thanks Haru-chan! I just wanted to say goodnight real quick, Takashi is gonna stay up doing some homework though, make sure he gets some sleep tonight kay? Night guys!" 

Honey skipped off down the hall, bright flowers casually emitting from his aura as he turned the corner. 

Mori looked back to her

"Still awake" He asked. 

She opened her door for him to walk in, not bothering to turn on the lights.

"Yeah, but you can hang out for a bit. I'm almost done with my homework and I'll probably just go to sleep after that. It'll be nice to have someone around till then though" 

"Hm" 

He nodded and sat down on her bed, letting her walk back over to her desk.

"So how was the tournament? You didnt get hurt or anything did you?" 

He felt a blush crawl onto his cheeks, instantly thankful the room was dark 

She was concerned for him? She must have known he wouldnt get hurt right? It was almost certain but she was still concerned?

"No, thank you though" 

"No problem Sempai" 

Sempai..... 

Was he just tired from earlier? 

Or did that really bother him?

Whatever it was, he couldnt help but frown at the continued use of the honorific. He wondered if she would ever really know how important such a small thing could mean. 

Taking advantage of the blind confidence he had at the moment, he spoke up.

"Takashi" He corrected.

Haruhi, turned around in her chair, raising an eyebrow at him

"What was that?"

"My name is Takashi" He stated

Haruhi blinked in slight confusion, giving him a smile

"I know that Sempai, what about it?"

"I would like if you called me by my name, Haruhi"

He saw her eyes widen, he smiled when he noticed a small blush painting her cheeks, only noticeable because of the desk lamp. 

She was silent for a moment

"You....You want me to call you...by your first name...?" 

He simply nodded 

"It isnt a problem is it? I call you by your name" 

"But..." 

Did she have any excuse to that? He did call her by her name despite being her Sempai and having the option to use a different honorific to show basic respect, He used her name so naturally, so commonly it never concerned her to confront him. 

She called Kyouya Sempai 

She called Tamaki Sempai

She called Mitsukuni Sempai

She called Umehito Sempai

He didnt want to be known as Sempai to her anymore. He wished she felt comfortable enough to call him by his name like she did with the twins, like with Renge and Ritsu. 

He wished he was sure they were friends

She sat down beside him, her eyes locked onto the dark floor. She crossed her hands in her lap, fidgeting a bit.

"I....I really dont want to disrespect you though....I know you call me by my name and I.....it's nice of you to do so......but I've never really considered that you'd give me permission......it feels weird to consider it......." 

Her voice was almost a whisper, she was silent for a bit after that. 

Whatever told him to do what he did in that moment, he wouldnt know wither to thank his tired mind or curse himself for walking into her room at all that night. 

He thought, not knowing why, that THIS was the best way to get her attention so he could finally get his point across. 

He wrapped an arm around her waist and in a quick moment she was suddenly placed on his lap, they were now eye to eye. 

He held her hands in his, locking his eyes strictly on hers. 

"I dont want you to be uncomfortable, and I dont want you to feel guilty about anything you do. For someone who emits such perfection Haruhi, you arent able to recognize it. I wouldnt give you permission if I didnt know that I considered you far past stubborn honorifics" 

He finally let his tired body fall back onto the soft mattress, making sure to break Haruhi's fall, keeping her in the same position.

He held both of her hands gently, placing them on his chest for support. Her fingers dug into his hoodie to keep herself up. One of his hands moved to her cheek while his other stayed, intertwining their fingers together.

Haruhi's face was a deep red now, processing her position.

She realized however, when Mori did it, it didn't feel like he was forcing her to do so like Kyouya had. 

She almost felt like it was out of comfort. 

She knew she wasn't in danger 

"T-Takashi...?" She finally complied, testing out the words for the first time. 

He smiled tiredly at her, moving the hand on her cheek up to her hair. Hearing her hesitate with something so menial was oddly calming to him.

"Thank you Haruhi"

He was damn well giving her a chance to leave still, a part of him hoped she would stay though. 

She already told him she knew he acted more 'confidently' when sleep deprived, she knew he held a lot of strength in everything he did. Sleep deprivation took that strength away from him and replaced it with blind confidence. 

So why wasn't she confronting him this time?

If she admitted she liked where she was, would he remember the next morning and would she lose the friendship she hoped they were building?

When he woke up tomorrow, he'd have more sense to his actions again.

"you need to go to sleep..." She muttered, almost in a whisper. 

He smiled again when her face flushed once again with those words. He wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her down to his chest before shutting his eyes. 

She finally called him by his name

And he could return the favor with something as simple as going to sleep with her in his arms?

He would hate himself in the morning for being so intrusive, but for now he wanted to enjoy the mistakes his deprivation caused.

"Will you stay then" He asked, turning her and himself onto their sides. 

She slowly, and clearly with hesitance, curled up and let him hold her close

"Okay....."

Honey's eyes swelled to dinner saucers. He bit down the urge to squeal, gently closing the door the rest of the way.

He pulled out his phone, scrolling to his messages to finally reply to a message he had recieved earlier. 

Renge: So? Did the trope turn out a success? Are they on a first name basis or at least in the same room again for the night?

Honey-Sempai: We're pulling into the driveway, brb! 

................

Honey-Sempai: Hey Ren-chan! yeah, your idea worked! 

He was slightly surprised when he didnt even wait two seconds to receive a reply. His screen lit up.

Renge: As expected! Good job Honey-Sempai, it's all going according to plan! Now we can put the operation into it's next stage!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter! As usual tell me what ya'll think :)


	19. 'Girl problems'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haruhi boutta be relatable as hell

Haruhi's eyes shot open when a familiar sharp pain shot through her abdomen. She groaned, letting go of whatever she was holding on to the night before, clutching her stomach. She was trapped with Mori's arms around her waist still though. 

She panicked, trying to get him to release her so she could get up

She moved a hand to his shoulder, shaking him lightly 

"Sempai...Sempai wake up....let go of me please...." 

Nothing 

She tried again

"Sempai...wake up....." 

Again, nothing

She was frustrated now 

She remembered back to the previous night, she hesitantly considered the idea

"Takashi.... please let go of me..." 

"Okay" 

Her eyes widened when she heard his familiar deep voice finally acknowledge her. He let go of her waist, allowing her to sit up. 

She looked at him, noticing he had a small smile on his face. 

How long was he awake before she said his name?

Despite her panic she couldnt help but smile for a split second before her attention switched back to the obvious. 

Her face flushed a deep red. She got up and carefully headed to the washroom, shutting the door behind her without another word. 

"Hm" 

He raised an eyebrow at the worried expression she had. 

Did he make her uncomfortable?

She peeked her head out the bathroom door a few seconds later, surprising him a bit when her face was a cluster of shame and embarrassment

"Can you um....hand me my cloths bag....? and if it's okay...can you wait outside....?" 

"hm" 

He nodded, walking over to her closet. She still hadn't unpacked any of her belongings since she got there. He walked the bag over to her, getting a quiet thank you in return before she shut it again. 

Now he was really worried. 

"Are you alright Haruhi" 

"Yeah, just a girl thing. Dont worry about it" She yelled back through the door. 

'Girl thing?' 

He grew up in a home with only two women around, so he never understood when they said that. His parents never thought there was a need for the health classes at Ouran because they left it to his decision and he never cared to take them. 

He was never familiar with the subject. 

His mother was still likely awake, it was five in the morning or close to five and she slept during the day around eight. 

"I'll be right back then, let me know if you need anything" 

"Okay..." 

He stepped away from the washroom, walking out of her room and down the hall. 

The house was still quiet, so silent you could hear a pin drop

He found his mothers door, knocking a few times before hearing the usual 

"It's open!" 

He crakcked the door slightly, just enough to let her know it was him

"Good morning. what's up? Want me to make you boys breakfast?" 

He shook his head 

"What does a girl mean when she says 'girl problems' How can I hel-" 

"Chocolate and blankets" 

His eyes widened when his mother didn't even skip a beat before answering. She got up from the bed, walking past her son. 

She looked back to him, laughing at what was his version of confusion

"Her father called when she first arrived here. Along with other things I needed to be told about while she's here, He told me she stays home on these days, they are much more painful in her case. Your staying home with her today. That's all you need to know. Am I clear?"

Mori nodded, still half unsure about being given permission to skip school 

Was she alright? 

He knew half of what his mother meant and didn't want to question the rest. 

"Good, now go get the Aspirin from the medicine cabinet and meet us in the living room. There's a TV there so she wont be bored today. Mitsukuni knows her classes doesn't he? can he grab her homework for her today? I know how she likes to keep up on her work" 

Mori nodded 

"Good. All you need to do is keep her comfortable today. She is much more fragile than I am so I cant imagine what she'll go through with her own schedule but if she's in lots of pain, remember those ice packs in the fridge can also be heated up in the microwave. Put them in a washcloth and she'll know what to do" 

He nodded again, walking back down the hall. 

He went for the bathroom in his room seeing as it was the closest and he knew the exact spot the pain pills were. 

He grabbed a few blankets and headed for the living room to wait. 

When he walked back past Haruhi's room he paused in front of the door. 

'Make sure she's comfortable' 

'She's in much more pain' 

'She's much more fragile'

His eyes darted down the hall towards the kitchen 

Chocolate? plenty. Thank you Mitsukuni. 

Blankets? plenty. Again, thank you Mitsukuni. 

Pain killers? plenty. Thank you sleep/deprived Mitsukuni. 

He knew she would easily try to deny if she was in pain, at least this time he'd be there to help her. 

"OH COME ON! WHERE IS SHE?" 

Tamaki tapped his foot worriedly on the ground while he watched Honey get out of his limo alone once again that week. He knew Haruhi would be absent again. 

The loli boy walked over to the group 

"Good morning!" 

"Honey-Sempai!" Tamaki bent down, grabbing the boys shoulders 

"Wheres Haruhi?" 

Honey paused for a moment. 

He threw on a normal sweet smile, making up a quick excuse for her.

"Haru-chan isn't feeling good, she'll be gone for the next few days. 

The twins rolled their eyes.

"She must be having stupid 'girl problems' again" 

"She gets to skip our test in physics class...She doesnt know how lucky she is....." 

"Girl...problems....?" Tamaki raised an eyebrow at them, prompting a mischievous grin in return. 

Hikaru raised an eyebrow, whisper shouting to his brother 

"He's never heard of the week of death? How ignorant is he?" 

"Guess he wont survive like we will" 

"What's the week of death?!" The blonde shouted, successfully scared out of his whit's 

The twins created a loom of darkness over the hunched down king

"When girls go through their 'week of death'-" 

"They turn into horrible monsters that can kill any man with a single glance-" 

"They are in constant aching pain, and will not kill you if you bring offerings. And if you dont bring the monster offerings of sweets and other food-" 

"She will open her mouth wider than a pythons-" 

"paralyze you with her death glance-" 

"THEN EAT YOU ALIVE!" They yelled in unison

Tamaki let out a girlish scream, gripping Kyouya into a tight hug while he burst into tears.

"MAMA! MAKE THEM STOP! I'M SCARED!MY LITTLE GIRL IS GONNA TURN INTO A MONSTER!" 

Kyouya looked up to the twins with an annoyed sigh, wrapping an arm around his idiot friend while shooting them a glare that just said everything they needed to know

'Shut the hell up'

"Tamaki their obviously lying. Even so I think we should avoid seeing Haruhi for a day or two. She may not appreciate being bothered." 

Honey bit down the urge to shoot him a glare.

He was the last person who should be talking. 

"Hey! Ootori!" 

The host club's eyes darted over to the school gates again to the sound of Ritsu's voice. 

Tamaki and the twins huddled together in fear when they saw his expression. 

Rage. Burning rage poorly covered by a simple annoyed glare. He walked straight up to Kyouya, his eyes narrowed to the upperclassman. 

The rest of the host club fled, leaving them alone.

"We need to talk. Right now." 

Honey smiled to himself when he heard those words, following his scared friends across the campus.

It was pitch dark outside, the only light in what must've been the entire house was the Television. 

Mori stared at the stars in the sky through the window, struggling to keep his eyelids from dropping shut. 

He hadn't left the couch all day, using all the strength he had to stay at Haruhi's side. 

it wasn't like he had a choice anyways, since she was put on the couch that morning she had his arm in her hold and wasn't letting go. 

She'd slept for the entire day, cuddled up to his chest like a koala. 

He figured out just how 'fragile' she could be when she was in pain. 

He remembered the bullet of panic that first ran through his brain when she winced in pain, dropping her spoon full of breakfast to the floor to clutch her arms around her stomach. 

Tears flowed down her cheeks and she doubled over onto the floor.

Before he could open the bottle of pain killers for her she had passed out. 

It surprised him and scared him at the same time. He was used to seeing her so independent, so strong all the time. 

Was she really in that much pain?

He had her sleeping on his chest since, not taking his eyes off of her the entire time. 

"What are you watching...?" 

Her weak voice snapped him out of his thoughts. 

He was surprised when he looked down to find the brunette rubbing her tired eyes, looking up to him with a small smile. 

He bit down a sigh of relief, quickly remembering the question.

He looked back to the TV screen, answering instantly 

"UFC" 

"Like martial arts fights? makes sense" 

She cuddled up close to his chest again, watching the program with him. 

He sat, eyes glued to her for a few minutes before he turned his attention to the TV, letting himself relax. 

Haruhi watched Mori as he continued to struggle to keep his eyes open. They would nearly drop shut before he piped up his head, opening them again. 

She'd been watching the stoic host attempt it for an hour now. 

Neither of them had any idea what time it was now. 

She finally got up the courage to ask, and risk having to end the night.

"What time is it?" 

"Hm" She stifled a giggle when he blinked in momentary confusion, looking back to her. 

"I asked what time is was? It seems pretty late" 

"Hm" 

He nodded reaching beside him. 

He turned on his phone, the brightness almost blinding them both in the process

"It's Three seventeen AM" 

Her eyes widened. 

She didn't remember ever staying up that late in her entire life. 

She went to untangle herself from his grasp. 

"Maybe we should both head to be-Agh hell!" Haruhi felt a stinging pain shoot through her abdomen again, making her clutch it instinctively. She was hunched over her knees, fighting the urge to throw up. 

Mori grabbed the heat pack again, gently taking her arms away from her stomach. He placed the pack where the pain was worst, lying her back onto the couch to relax her from her compact position. 

He placed a pillow behind her head, placing a hand on her cheek to wipe away the tears that were flowing from her eyes. 

"Just breath Haruhi you're okay" 

He ran his thumb along her cheek, keeping eye contact with her. Tears of pain still burned at her eyes. 

"your okay" 

He ran his other hand along her stomach, keeping the pack in place. 

Her breathing began to calm down soon enough, the shooting pain began to decrease again. 

"Just breath" He repeated, encouraging the decrease of panic in her hitched breaths to a normal pace. 

He took his hand away for a split second to grab her drink, his heart dropped when he felt her hand pull his back, intertwining her fingers with his. 

He looked back to see her, placing his hand back on her cheek. She looked relaxed like that, shutting her eyes while cuddling herself closer. 

Mori froze. His face flushed a deep red, making him instantly take his hands away from her. 

Her smile dropped when he sat back, instantly making him regret it

He had to keep his hands to himself. 

He shouldn't be holding her so much

Hugging her

She wasn't his

The right to feel her soft pale skin belonged to whoever held her close. Who's heart she held. 

It wasn't him

He should have just sat in a chair beside the couch instead of hugging her to his chest. He should have gotten her the pills before instinctively going to hold her. 

He was just supposed to keep her comfortable.

She put both her hands on his now, looking at him worriedly now. 

"Hey...What's wrong? You look like your thinking about someth-"

"I love you" 

He couldn't take it anymore. The words bubbled up in the back of his throat like acidic bile, waiting to be said. 

His stomach dropped when he finally realized what he just said. 

He pulled his hands back when he saw her big eyes go wide, staring at him like a deer in the headlights. Her mouth hung slightly open, struggling to form her next words.

"Takashi.....you..." 

"I'm so sorry" He uselessly tried to apologize as if he merely bumped into her in the hallway or stepped on her foot or something else that was much more minor than what he just did.

"You..." 

Mori backed away, going to stand up and leave. 

She would never talk to him again

She would hate him

He was no better than Kyouya 

He was no better than Hikaru or Kouru

He didn't deserve her forgiveness

Her friendship

He ruined everything.

"Takashi wait." 

Her hand gripped his again, stopping him in his tracks. 

He was pulled back down to his knees at her side, forced to lock eyes with her. She was now fully awake, fully aware and serious.

He stared down into those large dark orbs that trapped him so long ago when he first looked into them. 

Those orbs that had compassion and innocence hidden deep behind them. 

In a truly beautiful mind he never thought he'd be lucky enough to see in a lifetime.

He was in love with her. 

And he knew he alwase would be.

"Takashi...do you...really...love me...?" 

Why deny it now? 

Why did he try to ever deny it at all? 

The words bubbled up, the last bit of hesitance he had was now forgotten. 

He stared down at the floor for a moment before finally gaining the courage to look up again, locking his eyes with hers.

"I love you Haruhi" 

He didn't know he would fall for the quiet 'boy' who walked into the host club that day

He didn't know he would fall for the host club's only female host.

He didn't know he would care so much for someone in this world besides Mitsukuni. 

He didn't know anyone could cause so much anger from him just by being in danger. 

He didn't know a simple smile would ever make him feel like he was stronger

"Takashi..." 

Her fingers gripped onto the collar of his shirt, pulling his face towards hers. 

He looked into those beautiful orbs one last time.

He knew one thing for sure.

He never thought he'd have his first kiss like this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope ya'll enjoyed this chapter, as alwase tell me what you thought in the comments :)


	20. Fear and regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter is a little short and I'm so so sorry! I'll try to make the next one longer I promise!

'I love you' 

'I love you Haruhi'

Haruhi's eyes widened while still closed. Her breath hitched in realization and panic. The moment had happened so quickly she didn't even realize she had grabbed his shirt.

'Stupid hormones! what am I doing?!' 

Haruhi's grip tightened on his shirt collar nervously, pushing him away. 

Her heart raced, she looked up at Mori who was lightly panting. His eyes were wide as he stared back at her, just as shocked as she was. Hot tears burned at her eyes again. She felt a lump in her throat form, trying her best to get out fragments of any kind of an apology she could

"I...I'm so sorry...." 

"Haruhi-" 

She bolted up, rushing out of the room and down the hall towards hers

Mori sat there dumbfounded, heart still racing. 

He touched his shaking hands to his lips, trying to process how her's felt against them before she left far to quickly. 

Did she feel the same? 

Was she just being nice? 

School was in three hours.

"What have I done..."

"Something you should have done a long time ago Takashi" 

Mori's eyes widened, he turned around to see Mitsukuni popping his head out of the door from the dining room. 

He crossed his arms at Mori

"I was having another cake night when Usa-chan said she heard you two talking in the living room. I walked in just when you told Haru-chan how you feel. You didn't kiss her Takashi, she kissed you. That says something anyone can understand" 

He walked up to his cousin, silently demanding his hand with a smile

"Let's go to the dojo, we need to have a word" 

"OPEN YOUR EYES TAKASHI!" 

Honey threw another swift kick to his cousin's legs, tripping him off balance. 

"Mitsukuni-" 

"STOP HOLDING YOURSELF BACK!" 

He tried to get up but his cousin simply tripped him again. 

The two had been sparring for a good twenty minutes now, Honey was fed up and frustrated with his cousin. 

This was the only way he was gonna get though to him

Talking in a language and a place they both understood.

Honey placed a firm foot in his cousin's chest, keeping him on the floor. 

"Takashi Morinozuka! How many times do I need to kick your butt until you consider the reason Haru-chan kissed you was because she really actually LIKES YOU!" 

"Mitsukuni-" 

"Your only gonna leave this dojo tonight if you get your butt up! March it to her room! and TALK TO HER!" 

He tightened his hold on the stoic third year, narrowing his eyes warningly 

"DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!" 

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

Mori rarely saw him get frustrated with him this way. 

"Your my cousin Takashi, and I just want what's best for you just like anyone else would! Why are you denying yourself happiness with Haru-chan if you two like each other? What good will it do for either of you?! Answer that!" 

He took his foot away, letting his cousin off the floor. 

"Mitsukuni-" 

"To HER. NOT ME!" 

He pointed to the door of the dojo, eyes narrowed. 

Mori looked out into the dark hallway. He never feared anything in his life besides losing those he held close. 

Conflicted. 

He didn't want to lose her

He couldn't get the courage to confront what he wanted either. 

It was selfish of him. 

He knew many others loved her 

Many others deserved her. 

She was wrong to choose him if she did. 

"I can't do this to h-"

"NOW."

The blonde clenched his fingers into fists, although to others he may have looked like a toddler about to throw a tantrum, his expression truly scared him. 

"That's an order Takashi!" 

"What on earth could you have done to upset that boy so much?" 

"It's fine sis, things just got out of hand" 

Kyouya placed the ice pack firmly against his eye, growling under his breath in pain. His sister sat beside him, fiddling through a medical kit.

Ritsu had taken a soda can, a full soda can in fact, stuck it into a sock and hit him with it when he was walking away after their conversation earlier. 

He kept his word though, not daring to give in to Ritsu's 'warning'

He was a Goddamn Ootori, and he wouldnt be humiliated. 

He wasn't going to concede to some street punk or anyone else in that damn club.

Fuyumi crossed her arms at her younger brother, eyes soft with concern

"Kyouya please, tell me what's wrong? Your on your laptop much more than usual fiddling around with all those little chips and wires. It's starting to concern me..." 

"Father told you to go home two hours ago, why dont you tell me why your still in my room keeping me from working?" He shot back, not looking up from his work

Fuyumi's eyes softened. She sighed, shutting the door behind her, leaving him in silence once again. 

Kyouya scrolled through the pictures he had retrieved that day, taking the opportunity to open them again before his sister came back. 

"Let's see....notes...notes...come on she should have s-" 

His eyes scanned over the previous page, double taking on a small piece of information. 

"Construction schedule for Haruhi's appartment.....interesting.....Tamaki's paying over fifty million yen to replace the whole complex....." 

He smirked 

"Interesting investment of assets Tamaki.....I dont know if your father would approve of you spending so much money on an entire apartment complex though.....perhaps Haruhi's family will have to fit the bill themselves...." 

Kyouya pulled out his phone, dialing Tamaki's father's office

His eyes narrowed as it began to ring

"That is if they can afford it, they may have to make some...'sacrifices' though" 

He examined the photo of Haruhi on the screen in front of him, her arm around Honey and Mori smiling with them from the previous months. 

He scowled at Mori and Honey, eyes narrowed at his upperclassmen.

"Now...what am I going to do about you two?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked this chapter, as usual tell me what ya'll think in the comments :)


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